
SI286: Profiting from Different Investment Regimes? ft. Rob Carver
About this episode
This week, Rob Carver joins us to uncover his process of choosing which instruments to trade and how to manage the volatility of these. We also discuss how time frames affect position sizing and the ability to get reasonable exposure to a market as well as how you manage your expenses as a full time systematic trader. We round off our conversation with a deep dive into the latest paper from Man Institute to find out if different regimes exist in reality or just in hindsight. The paper uncovers if investors can reliably profit from correctly identifying them and if so, how? And how various types of investing have performed through different regimes, including Trend Following.
-----
50 YEARS OF TREND FOLLOWING BOOK AND BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO FOR ACCREDITED INVESTORS - CLICK HERE
-----
Follow Niels on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or via the TTU website.
IT’s TRUE ? – most CIO’s read 50+ books each year – get your FREE copy of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Investment Books ever written here.
And you can get a free copy of my latest book “Ten Reasons to Add Trend Following to Your Portfolio” here.
Learn more about the Trend Barometer here.
Send your questions to [email protected]
And please share this episode with a like-minded friend and leave an honest Rating & Review on iTunes or Spotify so more people can discover the podcast.
Follow Rob on Twitter.
Episode TimeStamps:
02:26 - What has been on our radar recently?
06:31 - Industry performance update
13:41 - Q1.0, Matthijs: Assuming that the trading costs are not a problem for some low-vol instrument, then how can we decide whether/how to still safely include the instrument in our portfolio?
23:50 - Q1.1 Matthijs: How do we distinguish between benign naturally low-vol instruments and disasters waiting to happen due to artificially dampened volatility?
26:18 - Q2, Ben: If I can trade markets like sugar or OJ on 20-day breakouts, is it reasonable to do so or is that quote-unquote too fast?
32:08 - Q3, Emil: As a full time systematic trader, how do you manage your expenses, with up and down months/years?
43:09 - Discussing latest Man Institute paper on regime based investing
50:37 - A win for trend following
59:32 - Does it matter if the Fed is tightening?
01:01:53 - The Impact of Contango vs. Backwardation
01:09:57 - Thanks for listening
Resources discussed in this Episode:
- LINK SI288: Why Not 100% Equities
- LINK SI288: Can hedge funds play the role?
- LINK SI286: The Road Ahead: Regime-Based Investing
- LINK SI286: Regime-Based Investing
- LINK SI281: History Shows What to Expect from Trend-Following When Rates Are Being Cut
- LINK SI280: Driving with the Rear-View Mirror
- LINK SI280: Stocks for the Long Run?
- LINK SI280: Dial Up Return, Not Risk: The Z-Shift Framework
- LINK SI280: Stocks for the Long Run? Sometimes Yes, Sometimes No
- LINK: Insights from AlphaSimplex
Copyright © 2025 – CMC AG – All Rights Reserved
----
PLUS: Whenever you're ready... here are 3 ways I can help you in your investment Journey:
1. eBooks that cover key topics that you need to know about
In my eBooks, I put together some key discoveries and things I have learnt during the more than 3 decades I have worked in the Trend Following industry, which I hope you will find useful. Click Here
2. Daily Trend Barometer and Market Score
One of the things I’m really proud of, is the fact that I have managed to published the Trend Barometer and Market Score each day for more than a decade...as these tools are really good at describing the environment for trend following managers as well as giving insights into the general positioning of a trend following strategy! Click Here
3. Other Resources that can help you
And if you are hungry for more useful resources from the trend following world...check out some precious resources that I have found over the years to be really valuable. Click Here
Get every episode summarized
Each time Top Traders Unplugged publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Top Traders Unplugged

GM107: What If AI Actually Pushes Interest Rates Higher? ft. Matt Klein
Top Traders Unplugged

SI416: 137 Years of Trend: What the Evidence Really Shows ft. Yoav Git
Top Traders Unplugged

GM106: What Happens When the Debt Finally Matters ft. Marvin Barth
Top Traders Unplugged

SI415: Maybe This Is Just What Normal Markets Look Like ft. Alan Dunne
Top Traders Unplugged