Where a commodity-trading-advisor advises, the pool operator organises and administers the fund itself. Many funds have both roles, sometimes filled by the same firm and sometimes by different ones.
Pools carry specific US tax characteristics. Most listed futures fall under section-1256, which marks positions to market at year end and splits gains on a fixed long and short-term basis regardless of holding period, and investors usually receive a schedule-k-1.
Pooling means shared leverage and shared redemption terms, so the individual investor cannot dial exposure the way a managed account allows. Check the notional funding level the pool runs, since the same programme can be offered at very different volatility targets.
Related: commodity-trading-advisor, managed-futures, section-1256, schedule-k-1, limited-partnership, cftc