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Five of eight of the CTA sectors tracked in the Barclay CTA indices were in positive territory for February, though the agriculture and currency sectors were a drag on performance.

"CTA funds got in step with equity markets in February, and those able to sit out a week-long energy reversal at the beginning of the month were rewarded by month-end," said Sol Waksman, president of BarclayHedge.

The Cryptocurrency Traders Index led the way in February with a 5.73% return. Other gainers included the MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index with a 0.60% return, the Diversified Traders Index which returned 0.39% for the month, the Systematic Traders Index with a 0.29% return and Discretionary gaining 0.16%.

Sectors in negative territory for February included the Agricultural Traders Index which was down 0.65%, the Financial/Metals Traders Index which was off 0.32% for the month and the Currency Traders Index which lost 0.16%.

"Although the Diversified, Systematic and Discretionary sectors were profitable in February, the specialist sectors; Agricultural, Financials, and Currency, didn't fare as well. The difference was energy markets. The three specialist sectors don't trade energy markets and consequently couldn't benefit from the profitable trading opportunity they afforded," says Waksman.

Only two sectors posted a positive return through the year's first two months. The Discretionary Traders Index posted a 0.20% return for the year to date, while the Cryptocurrency Traders Index was up 0.09%. On the other side of the coin, the Diversified Traders Index was down 1.07% through the first two months, the MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index was down 1.06% and the Systematic Traders Index was off 0.67%.