"Most people are not as good at trading as they think they are." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
In This Episode, You'll Learn:
- Why Robert decided to write his new book, Systematic Trading
- Robert reads the preface to his new book
- He explains one of the biggest investing mistakes of his career
- The book that got him interested in the financial industry
"From quite a young age, I was fascinated by computers." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
- How he got a job with AHL
"From 2006 to 2013 when I left AHL, it was probably the most exciting period to work in financial markets." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
- Why he wrote a book with very little math involved so that he spoke to a large audience
- The 3 types of investors that he defines in the book
- How cognitive biases in humans make them bad traders
"If you use a system with simple rules, you can overcome those cognitive biases." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
- Why he spends a lot of his book explaining how bad he is at trading
- Whether trend following and other divergent strategies work or not
- Why sticking to a plan is so important
"You need to make the assumption that the future will be at least a bit like the past." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
- How the markets and CTAs will change once the interest rate changes
- The differences between a subjective and an objective system
- Things that people should avoid when creating a trading system
- Why few people have a good handle on overtrading
- Machine learning approaches vs. idea approaches to creating trading programs
"I personally prefer the ideas-first method to creating trading systems." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
- How systematic trading adapts
Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:
- Listen to our two episodes with Kathryn Kaminski here and here.
- AHL
- Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
"I try to pick up on human behaviors that have not changed for thousands of years." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
This episode was sponsored by Eurex Exchange:

Connect with Robert Carver:
Buy his book on Amazon.
Follow Robert Carver on Linkedin
"Overconfidence is the fundamental human flaw that effects most people." - Robert Carver (Tweet)
8 Comments
Jim
03/12/2015Welcome back Niels and thank you for this interview. Once again you've gone above and beyond and delivered a top notch podcast! As a retail trader who models my trading after greats like Bill Dunn, Jerry Parker and David Harding (just to name a few) I really appreciate the access you provide to the "backstage" of the financial industry... and especially the trend followers. I've just learned of Robert Carver recently and am currently reading his book. It's so incredible that someone like Robert is willing to share how he thinks about and trades the markets... and does so in such a humble and unassuming fashion in a language that any layman can understand. Looking forward to part II of this interview as well as your future podcasts!
Niels Kaastrup-Larsen
05/12/2015Hey Jim, Thanks so much for your kind comments...it's good to be back with new interviews...and yes Robert was another great guest, so I'm grateful for being able to bring this information to you and so many others around the world.