IASG

05/27/2026

The futures industry has spent decades innovating around speed, technology, and access.

Now it’s evolving in another important way: contract size.

Micro and mini futures contracts are opening the door for more precise risk management, greater flexibility, and broader participation across the futures landscape.

IASG’s Greg Taunt explores why smaller contracts are gaining traction and how they may reshape the way investors and advisors approach portfolio construction.

🔗 Read the full article:
https://www.iasg.com/blog/2026/05/06/shrinking-futures-contracts-why-smaller-is-better

05/11/2026

Even Warren Buffett, who resisted stock splits for 30+ years, eventually launched Berkshire Class B at 1/1500 the size of Class A. Today, the smaller version trades 500x the daily volume of the larger.

Futures markets are running the same play on a much faster cycle. As the S&P and gold have outgrown their original contract sizes, CME has rolled out mini and micro contracts that bring precise position sizing to allocators who'd otherwise be stuck with clumsy round-number exposures.

A Micro E-mini S&P today has a notional of ~$35k, roughly the size of the original full-size S&P contract from 1982, despite being 50x smaller. The original "big" contract now exceeds $1.75M.

What this means for your allocation, plus what's coming from CME (including the new QSPX):

Outside of Warren Buffett, most companies actively endeavor to keep the price of shares reasonable for a wide audience, which can increase adoption rates and make their stock more desirable. Futures markets run into similar constraints. As contract values grow, they become harder to trade. Just like...

04/27/2026

The Masters just wrapped... and Greg Taunt noticed the same pattern investors should care about.

The favorites (Rory, Scottie) took the top two spots, as expected. Consistency over time is rare in golf, and it's rare in trading too. That's why, at IASG, we typically recommend a 3-to-5-year horizon when allocating to CTAs... long enough for programs to prove themselves across different market cycles.

Greg's latest piece walks through how building a CTA portfolio mirrors picking a Master's roster: the heavyweights, the contenders, the rising talent, and the cautionary tales every investor should know.

Read it here:

With the conclusion of the 90th Masters Tournament, it struck me how much selecting a winner mirrors choosing a CTA for an investment portfolio. In any single tournament, a long-shot player can steal the show and post a career-defining victory. Yet the managers who deliver the most reliable long-ter...

04/10/2026

New listing in the IASG database: FTC Capital GmbH — FTC Futures Fund Classic C (EUR)

A systematic, multi-strategy futures fund with a trend-following core spanning equity indices, rates, bonds, currencies, and commodities. Short-term trading and arbitrage models provide additional diversification. Strategies developed between 2005 and 2011, live since 2018.

Explore the full profile and performance history on IASG: https://www.iasg.com/groups/ftc-capital-gmbh1/programs/ftc-futures-fund-classic-c-eur/snapshot

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. THE RISK OF LOSS IN TRADING COMMODITY FUTURES, OPTIONS, AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE ("FOREX") IS SUBSTANTIAL.

04/08/2026

With hundreds of managed futures programs to choose from, finding the right fit for your portfolio can feel overwhelming.

In this post, Greg Taunt walks through the tools and strategies he uses most on the IASG platform — from sorting by performance and Sharpe ratio, to applying filters for track record and AUM, to testing combinations with our Blender tool.

Whether you're building a diversified portfolio or just starting your research, this is a great place to begin.

🔗 Read the full post: https://www.iasg.com/blog/2026/04/04/how-to-find-the-right-managed-futures-programs-on-iasg

Having many options when choosing an investment manager is a great advantage. However, filtering through hundreds of programs to find the ones that best match your needs isn’t always easy. With hundreds of CTAs in our database, a few simple strategies can make the search process much more efficien...

03/23/2026

Two of the world's largest oil reserve holders are in simultaneous disruption: Venezuela under a new interim government and Iran in active conflict controlling the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint.

The downstream effects on crude pricing, sanctioned oil flows to China, and Gulf Coast refinery economics are significant and likely underappreciated by most market participants.

New analysis on the IASG blog:

Recent events remind us that balance in energy markets can be delicate. A conflict in the Middle East and the removal of a sitting President in Venezuela resulted in sharp moves across the energy industry in early 2026. Currently, the Iran War is creating havoc in crude shipments, affecting the worl...

02/20/2026

Systematic or discretionary, which trading approach is better?

Systematic traders rely on rules and data.
Discretionary traders rely on judgment and experience.

Both can work. Both have risks.

We explain the key differences, recent performance data, and how many investors blend both approaches for diversification.

Read more:

Investors face many choices when selecting investments. Historically, the main divide was between fundamental and technical trading. The growth of computer systems for trading has introduced a potentially larger variable that will only increase as AI advances, whether in systematic (rules-based) or....

02/06/2026

Markets don’t always wait for headlines.

Recently, precious and industrial metals have surged together — an unusual move that may be signaling bigger changes beneath the surface. From AI data centers to energy transition demand and global supply constraints, we explore what’s driving metals higher and what it could mean for investors.

📖 Read: Decoding Metals Price Action
👉

Markets often communicate more clearly through price action than through headlines. The dramatic surge in metals contracts is sending a powerful signal, but what exactly is it telling us? Traders frequently monitor inter-market relationships for early warnings. When one asset class moves unusually,....

01/23/2026

Competing directly with the largest trend-following firms is a tough road. They benefit from scale, resources, and distribution, but that scale can also limit flexibility.

In this article, we explore how Bowmoor Capital takes a different path: focusing on a carefully selected futures universe, disciplined risk management, and sustained macro trends rather than sheer breadth.

With a long, rigorously tested history and live results that align with its stated goals, Bowmoor offers an interesting perspective for investors considering managed futures or diversification beyond equities.

👉 Read the full article here:

Competing head-to-head to outsmart others doing the same strategy is often a tough road. In trend following circles, giants like Man AHL, Winton, and Aspect dominate assets under management. This enables them to hire top PhDs, deploy better technology, test ideas rapidly, and outspend smaller player...

01/08/2026

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

As we close out the year, we looked back at the forces that shaped markets in 2025: rapid policy shifts, persistent questions around inflation, and the accelerating impact of AI across the economy.

In our year-end review, we reflect on what felt familiar, what changed meaningfully, and what may matter most as we look toward 2026.

Read the full article here:

History never repeats itself, but it often rhymes. This is even more so the case this year, as Trump began his second term with similar but different disruptions to the markets. Rising stocks, normalizing inflation, and the AI boom took center stage. We discuss some of the key events below and try t...