It has continued to be a difficult year for currency funds, according to Parker FX index data for October.
The index, published this week, reports a –0.12% return for October, while year-to-date is up 1.94%. In addition to the broad index, there are two style-driven sub-indices: the Parker Systematic Index and the Parker Discretionary Index. Systems did slightly better than human judgement, both in October and year to date. During the month, the systematic index was –0.03% and the discretionary index was –0.21%. Year to date, the systematic index is up 2.30% and the discretionary index 1.58%.
The systematic and discretionary approaches show similar returns over a two-year period, but over three years, discretionary funds showed clearly superior returns (9.50% against 4.41% for systematic funds). Perhaps, when chaos reigns, the human touch has value?