The label describes registration rather than strategy. Most CTAs run systematic trend or macro programmes, but the category also covers discretionary commodity specialists and short-term traders.
Registration brings disclosure obligations, including a document covering fees, past performance presented in a prescribed format, and risk warnings. Performance must be shown for all programmes, which limits the cherry-picking common elsewhere in alternatives.
CTAs can be accessed through managed accounts, which preserve transparency and control, or through a pooled vehicle run by a commodity-pool operator. The managed account route also lets the investor set their own notional funding level and therefore their own effective leverage.
Related: commodity-pool, managed-futures, trend-following, cftc, nfa, separately-managed-account