Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF

CTA

Market cap $1.2B

As the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average continue their record-breaking ascent into early 2026, financial advisors are facing a classic concentration conundrum. Following the first full trading week of the year, the S&P 500 closed at 6,966.28 on January 9, while the Dow surged to a record 49,504.07.

Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF ( NYSEARCA:CTA ) has disappointed investors seeking diversification through trend-following strategies.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Simplify Asset Management announces that it expects to deliver capital gains distributions across ten ETFs.

Paisley Nardini, Simplify managing director and head of multi-asset solutions, joins ETF Edge's Dom Chu on the "Halftime Report" to discuss the return of alternative ETFs and how investors are positioning now.

Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF offers managed futures exposure, with a strong, experienced team, and what I thought was a fair 0.76% expense ratio, until I found otherwise. Despite a solid strategy and professional management, CTA has struggled to deliver meaningful capital appreciation, with returns driven mainly by distributions, not NAV growth. Recent performance shows net losses from futures contracts overshadowing interest income, resulting in lumpy dividends and disappointing price performance.

The Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF offers stable and substantive income without excessive risk. This fund has shown to have a strategy that works even in more adverse market conditions. CTA is not correlated with equities, this income-investment should continue to offer consistent payouts even if volatility levels rise.

Simplify Managed Futures Strategy ETF is a solid 'managed futures' ETF, sporting a robust track record of positive total returns through market drawdowns. With little exposure to traditional market correlations, it's a proven hedge. We think it's a superior option to bonds, which have failed in this role as of late. As markets become more correlated, options like CTA add meaningful diversification to your portfolio. We rate CTA a 'Buy'.

Paisley Nardini, Simplify Asset Management managing director and portfolio manager, and Dave Nadig, financial futurist, join Dom Chu on “ETF Edge” to talk about new investor optimism, ETFs adopting a hedge fund- like strategy and what these funds can do for investors now.

April was volatile and challenging for investors. We wrapped up the month with the S&P 500 still down about 8% and the Nasdaq Composite down about 10% so far in 2025.

CTA is an actively-managed, multi-asset class, long-short futures ETF. The fund has outperformed its managed futures peers since inception, slightly underperformed the S&P 500. Risk and volatility are somewhat complicated, but the fund could serve to decrease risk at the portfolio level.