Recent content by Arb Under Par

You can view different programs in databases like IASG, Autumngold, or BarclayHedge. Depending on how much you have to invest and your profile as an investor, many programs may not be open to you. The vast majority of better programs are 4.7 exempt, which means that you have to be a QEP to...

Yes, read here: http://www.nfa.futures.org/NFA-registration/cta/index.HTML If you have any questions, call the NFA...

dmaxx - the books hedgefacts ctaoffice.com to name a few. the first two can be brutally expensive if you are managing less than 10mil.

I'd say Barclays CTA index is the most common, but keep in mind that the bulk of CTA's are long term trend followers, so the index is highly correlated to that strategy. If you want to look at something more comparable, there are short-term traders or active trading indices...or systematic...

I would definitely recommend going the managed account route. Talk to the NFA about requirements and filing as an exempt CTA. Just about any bigger FCM can handle doing give-up's to each managed account. It also will give investors comfort in retaining the account in their own name (and...

Heech, Make sure that you are talking to an attorney that is well versed with rules of BOTH the NFA and SEC. As was mentioned prior, it depends on the structure of your firm. For the most part, the NFA is ok with you paying marketing fees to licensed AP's through either your firm or an...

Most FCM's should allow you to set up a master/sub structure, where you fund the master account and can trade different strats in different sub-accounts. Your net positions and margin requirements should all roll up to the master account, but you should be able to track the subs separately...

Give-Up Agreements (GUA's) get signed by the executing FCM, the clearing FCM, the CTA, and the Investor. The CTA gives an allocation scheme to the executing FCM so that they know the ratios to give to each clearing account. Typically the trades are APS'd (avg pricing) prior to being given...

Pyxis DMAXX hedgefacts

Take the initial margin requirement from your daily statement and divide it by the days beginning trading level. The simple average as expressed in option A is common practice. Just because you have $100k on deposit, doesn't mean that is your trading level. If you have a system that only...

Everyone is going to have different screening filters. It's good to hear that you aren't a "traditional" premium seller, as you will have to constantly try to differentiate yourself from that. Good luck with launching...it's a tough environment for attracting capital, but hopefully you'll have...

You're going to get screened out by most CTA investors by being an option seller...but good luck. What is going to set you apart from the 20+ other CTA's out there doing the same thing?

Having done manager selection for several years, I can tell you that this is a very important number. It can vary from strategy to strategy, but for the most part it's a good indicator of the type of risk that the manager is employing. I would keep it below 20% (max), and an average that is...

There is a plug-in for excel called WebCab XL that may be some help...but from the sounds of it, you are just looking at some very simple formulas that you can do yourself in excel.

That's completely false. You may work for a company that has this policy, but there is nothing preventing principals or AP's from trading their own accounts. As far as reduced commissions, that's going to be something that you could negotiate and is going to be dependent on the firm. You...