The Hedge Fund Trader Who Automates Everything: Rob Carver
The Hedge Fund Trader Who Automates Everything is a deep dive into the mindset and methods of Rob Carver, a former institutional trader who left the high-stakes world of Barclays and AHL to build his own fully systematic trading operation. With decades of experience managing risk and deploying billions across global markets, Rob now trades independently using systems he designed to remove emotion, avoid overfitting, and stay adaptable in volatile conditions.
This episode explores how Rob went from trading exotic derivatives at Barclays to managing fixed income portfolios at one of the world’s most respected quant hedge funds. He opens up about burnout, walking away from institutional capital, and the freedom and responsibility that come with trading your own money.
Listeners will hear how real automation works, how much maintenance systems require, and why simplicity is often a more powerful edge than complexity. Rob also shares strong views on crypto, AI, and the risks of trading technologies that promise too much and deliver too little.
This conversation cuts through the noise to focus on what it actually takes to succeed with a systematic, automated approach. Whether you’re a retail trader trying to remove emotion from your decisions or a professional refining your edge, Rob’s perspective offers clarity, discipline, and insight rooted in experience.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode, Rob Carver breaks down the realities of building and maintaining a fully automated trading system. You’ll learn why simplicity often outperforms complexity, how institutional traders view risk differently from retail traders, and what it means to run a system that makes decisions without constant human interference.
Rob explains how he sets up automated processes to handle futures rollovers, monitors price data for anomalies, and decides when, if ever, to intervene. He discusses why he prefers medium-speed systems with month-long holding periods, how he avoids curve fitting, and how he evaluates whether a system is still valid as market conditions change.
Listeners will gain insight into the pros and cons of trading with leverage, how to think about diversification across asset classes, and why high-frequency strategies often decay faster than slower, more robust systems. Rob also shares practical views on evaluating strategies using relative performance and alpha, rather than just raw returns.
For traders curious about automation, this episode highlights the technical, psychological, and strategic aspects of trading without discretion. Rob also offers candid opinions on crypto and AI, including his concerns about their overhyped role in trading and why true edge still comes from understanding risk, not chasing the latest trend.
Whether you're a systematic trader, a discretionary investor considering automation, or simply someone interested in how modern hedge fund techniques work, this episode delivers a rare behind-the-scenes look from someone who has done it all.
Rob explains how he sets up automated processes to handle futures rollovers, monitors price data for anomalies, and decides when, if ever, to intervene. He discusses why he prefers medium-speed systems with month-long holding periods, how he avoids curve fitting, and how he evaluates whether a system is still valid as market conditions change.
Listeners will gain insight into the pros and cons of trading with leverage, how to think about diversification across asset classes, and why high-frequency strategies often decay faster than slower, more robust systems. Rob also shares practical views on evaluating strategies using relative performance and alpha, rather than just raw returns.
For traders curious about automation, this episode highlights the technical, psychological, and strategic aspects of trading without discretion. Rob also offers candid opinions on crypto and AI, including his concerns about their overhyped role in trading and why true edge still comes from understanding risk, not chasing the latest trend.
Whether you're a systematic trader, a discretionary investor considering automation, or simply someone interested in how modern hedge fund techniques work, this episode delivers a rare behind-the-scenes look from someone who has done it all.
ABOUT JONATHAN FARRELLY – HOST
Jonathan started his trading journey over 15 years ago, learning from some of the best institutional traders in the world. Over the last 9 years Jonathan has taught thousands of retail traders how to successfully navigate the financial markets. Jonathan has evolved Two Blokes Trading with new technologies to offer traders a new fully immersive experience.
Jonathan’s ethos has always been based on transparency with the goal to help new and experienced traders achieve their goals.
ABOUT ROB CARVER – GUEST
Rob Carver is an independent systematic futures trader, author, and visiting lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He began his career trading exotic interest rate derivatives at Barclays before managing multi-billion pound fixed income portfolios at AHL, the systematic trading arm of Man Group.
Since leaving the hedge fund industry in 2013, Rob has traded his own capital using fully automated systems. He is the author of Systematic Trading and Smart Portfolios, both widely respected for their clarity and practicality. Rob is known for his commitment to transparency, publishing his own trading performance and research publicly, and advising hedge funds on system design and risk.
This episode is sponsored by our partnered broker Forex.com. For more information or to setup an account click the link below.
https://stonexmarketingpartnerships.ck-cdn.com/tn/serve/geoGroup/?rgid=4&bta=40159 [https://stonexmarketingpartnerships.ck-cdn.com/tn/serve/geoGroup/?rgid=4&bta=40159]
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76%-78% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro and sponsor
02:15 Rob’s path from Barclays to hedge funds to independent trader
10:30 What fully systematic trading means in practice
18:45 Understanding institutional risk frameworks
29:20 Technical maintenance of automated strategies
38:50 Why Rob prefers simplicity over complexity
47:10 Evaluating systems when the market regime changes
56:00 Final thoughts and closing
59:30 Outro
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