As a writer, it’s frustrating when you come across a piece of work that expresses your own views more eloquently and more convincingly than you ever could.  That’s pretty much how I feel about today’s guest post from Attain Capital Management.

For the record, I could not agree more with what they have to say — everything from the way they set the stage with Europe as the key macro backdrop to how using managed futures can help investors navigate a messy environment like that.  The guys over at Attain always seem to have something interesting to say in their startlingly intelligent blog.  You can also follow them @AttainCapital.

I seldom feature guest posts because I enjoy writing this newsletter so darn much and it’s such an important part of my weekly routine.  So in the meantime, if you’re hungry for additional content, check out an article I wrote over the weekend for Seeking Alpha.  It turned out rather well and was even featured on their front page!  It’s about why the market could be set up for a meaningful medium-term bounce.

Attain occupies an interesting niche as a commodities futures broker.  But they, their commentary, and even their industry as a whole are all under-appreciated by mainstream finance and under-utilized by investors.  Investments in managed futures products can be powerful tools to help diversify your portfolio, and it’s why our firm has managed products like this for almost 30 years.

So that’s why I’m featuring this guest post.  Consider it an introduction to the world of managed futures and how awesome it can be.  If you want to learn more about that sort of thing, check out Attain’s site or send us an email (note: these products are not for everybody).

Enjoy!

Batter Up: Managed Futures and the Coming Crisis

by Attain Capital Management – 5/16/12

Last week, we dedicated everything we had to attending multiple conferences and absorbing as much as we could about alternative investing trends in the industry. If you’re interested in what we found out, it’s all up on the blog for your perusal.  But as we said throughout the week and for hours back at the office, Europe is flat out dominating the conversation among investing professionals. Whether or not they’ll admit it out loud, people are nervous. There’s marketing spin everywhere you look, but one scratch below the surface tells us that there is a real fear that we could be witnessing the unraveling of the European Union in slow motion… and the global financial system is biting their nails over the fallout, from bank exposure to investor confidence to overall liquidity.

While these are interesting times, I guess you could say we aren’t quite at the Mayan’s level on what the end of the year will bring. Make no mistake- there is volatility on the horizon, and it may end up being a bitter pill to swallow for most of the investing population, as their attempts at diversification fall victim to the rising correlation of asset classes. However, in the managed futures world, there’s a sense of “been there, done that” that gives us a slightly different perspective. Banter in our office has been less focused on Greece and more focused on some of the managers that have either already been tearing it up in this climate, or positioning their portfolios to capitalize should things worsen from here.  To be fair, there are other managers who are struggling, and past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results, but the tides seem to be shifting in a way that we can’t help but get excited about.

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