CTA, which debuted in 2022 with Altis Partners as its adviser, has since terminated that arrangement, the Aug. 31 regulatory filing shows. In recent weeks, portfolio managers Michael Green and Paisley Nardini also left issuer Simplify Asset Management. Paul Kim, Simplify's CEO, told Bloomberg News the fund would be better run in-house because the company has built the internal "resources, expertise and systems" needed to execute it.
Altis's chief investment officer, Charles McGarraugh, said the firm sees its research, technology and investment process as central to CTA's earlier results. In an email, McGarraugh - who had previously been Goldman Sachs's global head of metals trading - said, "We look forward to delivering the full force of our IP to clients via future product launches under the Altis brand." Kim added that Simplify was "grateful for the earlier partnership with Altis and wish them the best."
People familiar with the matter say Simplify began to step in around March, and Bloomberg data show the oil build started in April. As of Thursday, Simplify's data indicated roughly 42% of CTA's risk was tied to Brent crude, with a further 33% allocated to diesel futures. Starting in July, the fund trimmed its lineup of positions from usually north of 100 to under 50 by dropping interest-rate exposures, leaving a portfolio dominated by commodities. Concentrated portfolios tend to swing more.
The timing lines up with bigger moves in the fund's performance. CTA's 20 day volatility now sits at roughly twice its typical range and about three times that of its largest competitor. Year to date through Wednesday, the fund returned about 10%, while its benchmark came in at 12%.
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CTA tracks the style of commodity trading advisers, using futures across asset classes with a rules based momentum bent. The recent changes come after a relatively quiet 2025, when the fund gained 0.9% versus a small loss for the SG CTA Index. Since its 2022 debut, CTA has outpaced that gauge by roughly 30 percentage points.
Kim said the portfolio is intended to improve diversification alongside a 60/40 mix, deliver attractive absolute returns and tap "a large opportunity set of strongly trending commodities relative to ETF peers." The ETF is designed without equity exposure. While CTAs overall have generally benefited this year from long oil and from positions on stocks and against Treasuries, Simplify says CTA will still use the interest rate curve when it looks appealing, with a tighter focus on US rates to better align with the ETF's objectives.
CTA is the second largest ETF running this type of managed futures approach. Big issuers like BlackRock and Fidelity have rolled out their own takes, pitching the diversification benefits when stocks and bonds slide together. Simplify, founded in 2020 to bring hedge fund style trades to everyday investors, counts CTA as its largest fund when you set aside a money market ETF that is mostly held by other Simplify products.
For your wallet, the takeaway is simple: this ETF now rides a smaller set of bigger commodity trends, particularly in oil, which can mean stronger bursts when the trend is your friend and sharper bumps when it is not. If you use a managed futures fund to balance a 60/40 portfolio, the way CTA now concentrates its bets is the key variable to watch.
