You can find the book at major retailers like Amazon or digital libraries like Perlego .
Mastering Systematic Trend Following and Mean Reversion: A Guide to Advanced Futures Trading Strategies
: Methods to measure and predict risk to adjust position sizes accordingly. Capital Requirements
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss. No strategy guarantees profit.
In systematic futures trading, risk management is not an afterthought—it dictates position sizing. Carver’s risk framework revolves around targeting a specific level of volatility. Volatility Targeting
Most advanced systems look for big price moves. If a market breaks out, the system jumps on board. It stays on that wave until the wave stops. Volatility Targeting
This is Carver’s signature advanced concept. A standard trader buys 1 Crude contract (approx. $10k risk per $1 move). Carver calculates "risk per contract" using ATR or standard deviation.
Instead of a single crossover, Carver often looks at multiple lookback windows simultaneously (e.g., 8/32, 16/64, and 32/128 days). This multi-scale approach ensures the system captures short, medium, and long-term trends without being overly sensitive to a single timeframe. Breakout Systems
One of the most distinctive features of Carver’s methodology is his approach to position sizing. He does not simply bet a fixed percentage of capital on each trade. Instead, he adjusts position sizes based on volatility, diversification benefits, and a target risk level for the overall portfolio. This ensures that trades in high‑volatility environments are not oversized relative to the risk being taken, and that the portfolio remains within a predetermined risk budget.
: Deep dives into more complex trend-following and carry mechanics.
A forecast of indicates a maximum strength bearish trend.
: Strategies range from basic "long only" and "buy and hold" to complex techniques like trend following, breakouts, and fast mean reversion. Asset Class Coverage
If you have spent any time in the quantitative trading space, you have likely encountered the name . A former hedge fund manager at AHL (Man Group), Carver is renowned for bridging the gap between institutional-grade systematic trading and the retail trader.
I recently had the opportunity to dive into "Advanced Futures Trading Strategies" by Robert Carver, and I must say, it's been a game-changer for my trading endeavors. As someone looking to elevate their futures trading skills, I found this book to be an invaluable resource.
He uses a dynamic weighting system. If Carry is performing poorly, he reduces its allocation and shifts weight to Trend. He doesn't turn systems off; he just lowers the volume knob.
: The "real hero" of the strategy is applying filters across a broad portfolio (100+ instruments) to slash drawdowns and improve Sharpe ratios.
These strategies target short-term price corrections. Carver highlights that these require novel execution techniques to manage the high turnover and costs.