Benchmark

Also seen as: Bench, vs bmk

It is not just a line drawn on a chart. You pick one benchmark per strategy, either from a set of market-benchmark presets or — on the plans that include it — from any of your own Live strategies, and Fincanva runs it as its own backtest.

How does Fincanva handle it?

USD 148,210Final value

+USD 12,400Vs benchmark

-23.4%Max drawdown

+7.9%CAGR

• A benchmark is computed as its own simulation with the same status states as any backtest — Computing while it runs, Ready when it finishes, Failed if it cannot complete.
• Changing the benchmark starts a new benchmark simulation; the comparison waits until that benchmark reaches Ready.
• The benchmark uses the same starting capital and date range as the strategy it is measured against, so any difference reflects the holdings rather than a different setup.
• Which strategies you may choose from is set by your plan: the market benchmarks are open to every plan, and your own Live strategies become benchmarks too from Advanced upwards. A plan that does not include them still picks any market benchmark, and a strategy that was already pointed at one of your own strategies keeps that benchmark and keeps running — what changes is that you cannot point one at a strategy of yours again, whether by picking it or by duplicating a strategy that already uses it. Picking a benchmark, saving your simulation settings, duplicating a strategy and detaching a component into a strategy of its own are each checked against your plan. See what each plan includes.

What does it look like in practice?

You compare a strategy against SPY, an ETP that tracks the S&P 500. Both start from the same capital on the same date, and Fincanva runs SPY as its own backtest, drawing the two equity curves together. Where your strategy's line sits above SPY it is ahead; where it dips below, it is behind. If your strategy ends higher but with deeper falls along the way, the side-by-side makes plain that the extra return came with more risk. What each comparison number means is covered in the metrics guide.

Beating a benchmark is not a reason to expect the same ahead.