Glossary
ENITLog inStart building
View .mdENIT

Instrument

TermGet startedBase

An instrument is a single tradable or reference security, identified by a ticker — its short symbol — such as a stock, an ETP (an exchange-traded product like an ETF), or a crypto asset. It is the smallest thing a strategy can hold, and its own price history is what a backtest replays.

Also seen as: ticker, symbol, security

Strategies screen, rank, buy, and sell instruments.

How does Fincanva handle it?

Asset selection

Assets

LogoTickerNameAsset typeActions
AAAPLApple Inc.Stocks
VVWCEVanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETFETPs
GGLDSPDR Gold SharesETPs
Demo data A strategy's Asset selection card lists its basket: each instrument with its ticker, its name and its asset type.
  • Instruments are grouped by asset type; today Fincanva offers three — Stocks, ETPs, and Crypto.
  • Each instrument is identified by its ticker symbol and carries its own price history and first available date, which set how far back a backtest that uses it can run.
  • Delisted instruments are kept and stay searchable, so a strategy can include securities that no longer trade — this is what keeps a backtest from seeing only today's survivors.

What does it look like in practice?

AAPL, SPY, and BTC are three instruments of different types. AAPL is a single company's stock; SPY is an ETP that itself tracks the S&P 500 index; BTC is a crypto asset. A strategy can hold any mix of them, and each brings its own price history — so a backtest that includes BTC can only reach back as far as BTC's own history allows, even if AAPL's stretches decades further.

Used in 135 pages

UPDATED 2026-10-06

Fincanva is for education and illustration only. It is not personalised financial advice, and past or simulated results do not predict future ones. Read the Terms Addendum

GLOSSARY · 222 TERMS