By Barry Cohen
Investors are fleeing as John W. Henry’s losses mount. Is he unwilling to change, or just distracted by baseball?
Since John W. Henry launched his eponymous firm in 1982, he has always stubbornly clung to his disciplined, trend-following approach. Throughout the peaks and troughs of a long investment career in managed futures, in which he is regarded as one of the founding fathers, this obstinacy has served him well. But now, after several years of dismal returns, the very future of Henry’s Commodities Trading Advisor may finally be on the line. Is one of the pioneers of the CTA industry becoming one of its dinosaurs?
The turn in John W. Henry & Co.’s fortunes began, perhaps not coincidentally, not too long after Henry, in 2002, became the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, which began to absorb his interest and take his...