---
title: "Invested capital and cash reserve"
description: "The invested portion sets how much of a combined strategy's capital is put to work versus held as a cash reserve, from fully invested down to lightly invested."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/invested-capital-and-cash-reserve"
last_updated: "2026-07-23"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/invested-capital-and-cash-reserve.md"
---

# Invested capital and cash reserve

The invested portion is the share of a combined strategy's capital that the allocation profile puts to work; whatever is left over is held as a cash reserve. You set it as a single percentage, so an invested portion of 75% deploys three-quarters of the capital and keeps one-quarter in cash.

## How the invested portion works
The invested portion scales how much capital the allocation profile deploys before the strategies it holds are weighted against each other. At 100% the profile is fully invested; below that, the profile deploys only that share and the remainder stays uninvested as cash. It is set on a combined strategy (formerly a *portfolio*), one value per allocation profile, and it does not change *which* strategies are held — only *how much* of your capital is at work in them.

## Where you set the invested portion
You set it in a combined strategy's **Allocation**, on the allocation profile, using the **Invested portion** control — its helper reads "Share of capital this profile deploys" and its unit is "%". Pick a preset or set a custom value with the slider:

| Control value | What it deploys |
|---|---|
| **Fully invested** | 100% — no cash reserve |
| **Mostly invested** | 75% |
| **Half invested** | 50% |
| **Lightly invested** | 25% |
| **Custom** | any value you set with the slider |

To reach the Allocation card, open the strategy's settings — see [Editing a strategy: the settings cards](/docs/strategies/editing-a-strategy-the-settings-cards#the-settings-cards-one-by-one).

## What happens to the capital you don't invest
Capital above the invested portion is held as a cash reserve — it is not deployed into any strategy. In a backtest what the reserve does depends on your simulation assumptions: with the Costs assumption off — its default — idle cash earns nothing, so the reserve neither gains nor loses on its own; with Costs on it earns interest. See [interest received and paid](/docs/analysis/interest-received-and-paid). Holding more in cash lowers how much of the strategy is exposed to the market, which usually means smaller swings — see [How a backtest works](/docs/backtesting/how-backtesting-works#what-happens-when-you-run-a-backtest) for what a run computes. Fincanva doesn't tell you the right amount to hold in cash — see [Is this financial advice?](/docs/investing-theory/is-this-financial-advice#is-this-financial-advice).

## How risk conditions can lower the invested portion
A defensive stance holds a smaller invested portion, and therefore more cash, than a fully-invested one. When a combined strategy turns defensive under its Risk conditions — its Risk-Off state — it can hold a lower invested portion, moving capital out of the market and into the cash reserve until conditions ease. How and when that switch happens is set in the **Risk** card, covered under [Editing a strategy: the settings cards](/docs/strategies/editing-a-strategy-the-settings-cards#the-settings-cards-one-by-one).

## Limits and edge cases
The invested portion ranges from 0% to 100%, and a new profile starts fully invested at 100%. Setting it to 0% holds everything in cash and puts nothing to work — the backtest then just tracks an uninvested balance. The invested portion is a combined-strategy control: a single strategy manages how much capital is at work through its own allocation profile, not through this control.

## Related
To see where this control sits among the other settings, read [Editing a strategy: the settings cards](/docs/strategies/editing-a-strategy-the-settings-cards#the-settings-cards-one-by-one). For what a strategy and a combined strategy are, see [What is a strategy?](/docs/strategies/what-is-a-strategy-in-fincanva#what-is-a-strategy-in-fincanva).