CHAPTER 6 Directional Investing through Global Macros and Managed Futures. Global macro and managed futures investing are two forms of directional or opportunistic investing strategies that investors should consider when determining which strategies to include in their hedge fund portfolio. | 6 Directional Investing through Global Macros and Managed Futures Global macro and managed futures investing are two forms of directional or opportunistic investing strategies that investors should consider when determining which strategies to include in their hedge fund portfolio. Each represents a unique opportunity to profit from global economic markets and trading in commodities with strong upside value. Because of the instruments in which they most commonly trade these two strategies have an organizational structure that is distinct from the conventional hedge fund limited partnership or limited liability corporation. Both strategies trade in commodities or commodities-related derivatives through what is known as a commodity trading advisor CTA . INSIDE THE GLOBAL MACRO STRATEGY Traditional investment strategies whether they are geographically limited or stylistically limited have produced outstanding results some of the time but may fall short in terms of long-run consistency. To make up for the lack of diversity global macro funds have positioned themselves so they have the ability to help their investors to capitalize on opportunities in any environment. 75 76 HEDGES ON HEDGE FUNDS Global macro managers who run large highly diversified portfolios that are designed to profit from major shifts in global capital flows interest rates and currencies are worthy of investors consideration. These funds represent the purest form of a top-down approach to absolute return investing and pursue an opportunistic top-down approach based on shifts in global economies. Finding a global macro hedge fund manager with the capacity to take in new investment may present a challenge. Compared to other strategies global macro funds make up a small fraction of the hedge fund world. It is interesting to note however that although global macro hedge funds are still small in terms of the number of funds the strategy tends to include the largest funds in terms of assets under .
