Tracking CTAs since 1994
CTA Profiles
Tracking CTAs since 1994
Principal(s): Mark Ditsch & Brian Leith
Strategy: Fundamental / Agricultural
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Ditsch Trading, LLC is a registered Commodity Trading Advisor that began January 1, 2011. The program is traded by Mr. Mark Ditsch. The Advisor suspended operations in 2013 when he went to work for Noble Agri where he led their North American expansion. Mr. Ditsch garnered the attention of Noble Agri near the end of 2013, joining the firm he opened the company's North American headquarters in Chicago, Il. Mr. Ditsch was responsible for the expansion of the firm's proprietary trading desk and led the initiative to grow their North American operations. Before returning to Ditsch Trading, Mark was the firm's Global Head of Proprietary Trading.
The trading program was reopened in December 2015. The primary focus of the trading program is on agricultural commodity markets with particular emphasis on soybean, soybean products, and corn futures and options, but does occasionally trade other markets. Mr. Ditsch gained a thorough understanding of markets through his time at Noble Agri and long before trading physical grain and oilseed markets in the US. He began his career with Consolidated Grain and Barge, a leading US grain and transportation company and then with Zen-noh Grain Corporation. At Zen-Noh, Mr. Ditsch eventually rose to the position of Trading Manager for all commodities.
Mr. Ditsch's experiences at Noble Agri, as well as his other roles, helped him further understand the world of agricultural trade fundamentals and their effect on the market. His analysis includes constant monitoring of US and world weather, shifts in commodity consumption patterns, political issues, currency relationships and trends, and other market movements. Mr. Ditsch uses this analysis to develop trading strategies that may involve long or short futures positions as well as intra- and inter-market spread positions. Options are frequently used to manage risk exposure or generate additional opportunities. Technical or chart analysis is generally used only to help determine entrance and exit points, as Mr. Ditsch believes that fundamentals ultimately determine price movement.
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Mr. Ditsch began his career in 1996 with Consolidated Grain and Barge (CGB), a leading US grain and transportation company. After spending some time learning the essentials of cash grain merchandising at a river elevator in southern Illinois, Mr. Ditsch moved to Mandeville, Louisiana to trade the export grain market for one of CGB's parent companies, Zen-noh Grain Corporation (ZGC). ZGC is one of the largest grain exporting companies in the US. He initially managed the sorghum, corn, and soybean trading for the company and was named the Trading Manager for all commodities in 2006.
In addition to cash and futures trading, he focused much of his time on risk management, logistics, and world supply and demand analysis. This was supplemented with many trips to China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and other key destination markets. These travels were very important in helping to develop key relationships with world grain and soybean users. Mr. Ditsch continues to travel overseas to many of these destinations in order to help maintain these important market relationships.
In 2007, Mark moved to Chicago to work with the LaSalle Group as a futures trader and analyst, focusing his analytical work on the soybean and meal markets. He was approved by the NFA as an Associated Person of Rosenthal Collins Group, LLC in 2007. He began trading futures for his own account, and in 2008 was granted NFA approval to trade discretionary accounts.
Mr. Ditsch took his experience and began his discretionary trading program, Ditsch Trading, LLC, in January 2011. Mark traded discretionary accounts for almost three years before deciding to return to the corporate side of the sector; he joined Noble-Agri as their Global Head of Proprietary Trading. This position helped to hone the trading skills Mr. Ditsch has developed over the year and widened his network giving him more insight to the various ripples throughout all channels of the industry.
During the winter of 2015, Mark returned to the managed capital sector of the industry and with the help of the Nesvick Trading Group reopened Ditsch Trading, LLC.
Mark Ditsch holds a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nebraska and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois. Mr. Ditsch grew up on a crop farm in Western Nebraska and still owns farmland in the area today.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | ROR | Max DD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | -2.33% | 0.48% | 2.31% | 0.41% | -2.33% | |||||||||
| 2024 | 4.60% | 7.33% | -4.87% | -1.69% | -4.60% | 0.13% | -0.71% | -1.58% | -7.40% | 3.19% | 0.53% | -4.15% | -9.76% | -19.62% |
| 2023 | -1.40% | -0.47% | -1.27% | 1.47% | -2.19% | 0.42% | -0.38% | 2.20% | -1.19% | -3.94% | -6.07% | 4.19% | -8.67% | -12.35% |
| 2022 | 6.06% | 13.45% | -0.53% | -1.07% | -2.74% | -0.57% | -1.20% | 0.47% | 2.03% | 3.97% | -1.46% | -1.63% | 16.88% | -5.98% |
| 2021 | 6.86% | 4.72% | 1.62% | 11.29% | -8.97% | -2.58% | -0.34% | -1.27% | 1.81% | -0.92% | -0.99% | -1.52% | 8.61% | -14.18% |
| 2020 | -1.55% | 0.46% | 0.20% | -0.40% | 0.78% | 0.75% | -1.05% | 8.98% | 4.65% | 2.86% | 9.51% | 17.12% | 49.21% | -1.55% |
| 2019 | -1.35% | -1.68% | 0.85% | 1.29% | 3.19% | -3.72% | -1.62% | -3.33% | -0.23% | -1.40% | -6.39% | 3.28% | -10.96% | -15.68% |
| 2018 | 0.68% | 3.55% | -2.85% | -0.38% | -1.30% | -1.25% | -4.68% | 0.29% | -1.86% | -1.58% | -1.95% | -2.34% | -13.05% | -16.6% |
| 2017 | 0.92% | 0.15% | 1.49% | 0.96% | -2.52% | 4.28% | 0.70% | -0.63% | 0.23% | 0.25% | -1.36% | -1.14% | 3.22% | -2.63% |
| 2016 | 0.51% | 2.21% | -2.67% | 8.44% | 3.20% | 7.75% | -14.50% | -1.82% | -1.38% | -1.66% | -1.08% | -0.23% | -3.13% | -19.65% |
| 2015 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.81% | 0.81% | 0% |
| 2014 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0% | 0% |
| 2013 | 3.43% | 4.59% | -13.01% | 5.58% | -4.18% | -3.86% | 8.88% | 17.49% | -3.22% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 13.3% | -15.4% |
| 2012 | -2.62% | 15.72% | 14.56% | 34.03% | -29.73% | 46.16% | 47.72% | 16.75% | -28.96% | -9.24% | -6.43% | -1.92% | 81.35% | -40.83% |
| 2011 | -0.93% | -10.94% | -10.66% | -0.51% | 3.71% | -2.73% | 1.46% | -0.99% | 6.85% | 3.54% | -2.25% | -6.80% | -19.91% | -21.58% |
| Years | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROR | -19.91% | 81.35% | 13.30% | 0.00% | 0.81% | -3.13% |
| Max DD | -21.58% | -40.83% | -15.40% | 0.00% | 0.00% | -19.65% |
| Years | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROR | 3.22% | -13.05% | -10.96% | 49.21% | 8.61% | 16.88% |
| Max DD | -2.63% | -16.60% | -15.68% | -1.55% | -14.18% | -5.98% |
| Years | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 YTD |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROR | -8.67% | -9.76% | 0.41% |
| Max DD | -12.35% | -19.62% | -2.33% |
PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE SUCCESS. IN SOME CASES MANAGED ACCOUNTS ARE CHARGED SUBSTANTIAL COMMISSIONS AND ADVISORY FEES. THOSE ACCOUNTS SUBJECT TO THESE CHARGES, MAY NEED TO MAKE SUBSTANTIAL TRADING PROFITS JUST TO AVOID DEPLETION OF THEIR ASSETS. EACH COMMODITY TRADING ADVISOR ("CTA") IS REQUIRED BY THE COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION ("CFTC") TO ISSUE TO PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS A RISK DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT OUTLINING THESE FEES, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND OTHER ASSOCIATED RISKS. A HARD COPY OF THESE RISK DISCLOSURE DOCUMENTS ARE READILY AVAILABLE BY CLICKING ON EACH CTA'S "REQUEST DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT" BUTTON.
THE FULL RISK OF COMMODITY FUTURES, OPTIONS AND FOREX TRADING CAN NOT BE ADDRESSED IN THIS RISK DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. NO CONSIDERATION TO INVEST SHOULD BE MADE WITHOUT THOROUGHLY READING THE DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT OF EACH OF THE CTAS IN WHICH YOU MAY HAVE AN INTEREST. REQUESTING A DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT PLACES YOU UNDER NO OBLIGATION AND EACH DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED AT NO COST. THE CFTC HAS NOT PASSED UPON THE MERITS OF PARTICIPATING IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS NOR ON THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE DISCLOSURE DOCUMENTS. OTHER DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED TO YOU BEFORE AN ACCOUNT MAY BE OPENED FOR YOU.
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS SHOULD NOT BASE THEIR DECISION ON INVESTING IN THIS TRADING PROGRAM SOLELY ON THE PAST PERFORMANCE PRESENTED. ADDITIONALLY, IN MAKING AN INVESTMENT DECISION, PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS MUST ALSO RELY ON THEIR OWN EXAMINATION OF THE PERSON OR ENTITY MAKING THE TRADING DECISIONS AND THE TERMS OF THE ADVISORY AGREEMENT INCLUDING THE MERITS AND RISKS INVOLVED.
AUTUMN GOLD CTA INDEXES ARE NON-INVESTABLE INDEXES COMPRISED OF THE CLIENT PERFORMANCE OF CTA PROGRAMS INCLUDED IN THE AUTUMN GOLD DATABASE AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE COMPLETE UNIVERSE OF CTAS. INVESTORS SHOULD NOTE THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO INVEST IN THESE INDEXES.
