Raw materials may return more than financial assets for the first time in three years as the global economy rebounds, according to Bloomberg surveys and 2009s most accurate commodity forecasters.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Mark Mobius' Templeton Asian Growth Fund is banking on commodity stocks to boost returns in 2010 following its best-ever yearly performance in 2009, when it benefited from big bets on companies such as Indian iron ore exporter Sesa Goa.

Systematic Alpha Management, a New York-based CTA, is launching a product that aims to take advantage of short-term directional price changes in a portfolio of over 40 global future markets, including fixed income, equity indices, currencies and commodities. read more

AQR Capital Management has unveiled its seventh mutual fund, a managed-futures portfolio that will use the giant hedge fund’s quantitative models to exploit pricing trends in commodities, bonds and other markets, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Managed Funds Association (MFA), the association of the US alternative investment industry, said it intends to pull together information from hedge funds, funds of funds and managed futures funds for use in its industry education and advocacy.

Hedge funds had a positive month in November reflected by gains in fourteen of our eighteen indices. The average return for the 2,682 hedge funds (ex. FoFs) that have so far reported a November return is +1.33%. The estimates for December, along with the number of funds reporting for each of our 18 sectors can be found at the link below. These indices are being continually updated as current returns for the underlying hedge funds are recorded into our system. As of this writing, 16 of 18 hedge fund sectors are showing positive returns for December.Commodity Trading Advisor performance for November as measured by the Barclay CTA Index averaged +2.28%. December's estimate based on the performance of the Barclay BTOP50 Index is -2.34%.Hedge Fund Indices Managed Futures IndicesFrom the January 2010 issue of Barclay's Insider Report. Accredited investors can subscribe to the full newsletter for free.

Newly-formed Nautical Capital Management, a Purchase, N.Y.-based hedge fund firm, is gearing up to launch a series of commodity-based absolute return strategies. “The specialization of strategies in the commodities space will begin to grow and each one of our strategies will focus on exploiting very specific and liquid inefficiencies in the marketplace,” Ryan Carrier, chief investment officer and a former director of commodity investor products at Macquarie Bank Limited in New York, told FINalternatives. read more

Andy NyboBy Andy Nybo -- The futures markets have clearly experienced a number of ups-and-downs during the past two years. Elevated volatility has changed, hopefully for the long term, how traders view risk and reward. read more

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced a proposal putting limitations on the number of contracts held by energyfutures speculators

LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge fund firm Man Group said on Friday assets had fallen back as poor performance from its flagship AHL strategy and fresh client withdrawals knocked the group's recent recovery off course.

Global macro was the most popular hedge fund strategy among investors last year, despite producing one of the lowest returns.

Star Blackrock trader Graham Birch, whose $6.9bn (€4.8bn) World Gold Fund outperformed its benchmark index in nine of the last 10 years, has quit his job to run his 2,300-acre dairy farm in Dorset full time, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph, London.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa, January 19, 2010 – Managed futures lost 1.43% in December and CTAs ended the year down 0.10% according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge.“Unexpected trend reversals in December erased much of November’s profits,” says Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge.Read the entire Managed Futures Press Release by clicking here.

It was a bad year for the Man Group’s flagship managed futures strategy—its worst ever, in fact—and that made 2009 a bad year for the Man Group. read more

In an effort to unify and strengthen the voice of the hedge fund community, two industry associations have formed a new partnership. read more

MF Global is expanding its US equity derivatives portfolio trading and electronic trading services and plans to sell its equity interdealer broker business

Two recent studies address fears traders have about high-frequency trading, relating to pattern recognition and adverse selection.

Man Group's computer-run fund AHL may be playing an increasingly difficult gameIs Man Group's black box on the blink? AHL is the computer-run fund that underpinned the group's transformation from commodity broker to hedge fund in the 1990s. It aims to identify and follow momentum in markets such as commodities, shares and bonds using various algorithms. On the whole, it has been a good advert for removing emotion from investment – an annualised return of 11.2% since 1998 is excellent.But now AHL is spilling out bad news: last week's investment performance was -3.6%. That makes a fall of 18.1% since December 2008, the biggest "drawdown" (peak-to-trough decline) in the fund's history.What's gone wrong? Nothing, says Man – the performance is "within our statistical expectations". History is on its side. The last time the "on the blink?" question was asked seriously – in 2004 – AHL bounced back strongly.Yet the suspicion lingers that trading by algorithms is now so common that the game is harder. AHL alone runs a colossal $21.7bn. It's tricky, even for a computer, to be nimble at that size.ManHedge fundsSharesInvestmentsNils Pratleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Altegris, a provider of alternative investments, has expanded its senior management team serving its client base of wealth management professionals. read more

Alternative asset management firm Armajaro Asset Management has launched a fourth commodity hedge fund: the Armajaro STS Commodities Fund. read more

The $21.7 billion managed futures program dropped 3.57%. AHL suffered its first-ever annual loss last year. read more

In another sign that things are returning to normal in the hedge fund industry, an increasing number of successful firms are closing their best funds to new investors. read more

The Salus Alpha Commodity Arbitrage has been registered for public distribution in Germany.  read more