February was a strong month for most liquid alternatives:

• CTA generated +4.3% in Feb in what looks like a strong return to prior quarterly patterns with substantial returns in Q4/Q1.
• Equity Long/Short managed to capitalize on the strong equity markets and printed +2.3%.
• Market Neutral (+0.5%) had a modest month but has established a nine-month streak of positive returns.
• Event Driven (+0.2%) was positive but has struggled to keep up the pace with other liquid alternatives.
• Crypto Managers took the top position with a +36.1% return, an exceptional recovery partially driven by strong flows into the recently launched ETF products.

For CTAs, long position in equities drove profits and the difficult to trade Cocoa added substantial profits. Cocoa is a commodity that has been historically difficult to trade for a larger number of CTAs, but in 2023/24 that appears to have changed substantially.

Equity Market Strategies were dominated by the increased odds on an earlier FED interest rate easing cycle as well as the continued strong performance of the AI related companies. Major US indices are trading a new highs.

The demand for Bitcoin ETFs resulted in a substantial rally in the major crypto currencies. February 2024 was the best month since the frothy days of 2021.