---
title: "Risk templates"
description: "Risk templates are the ready-made risk conditions in the builder's Template list, each arriving with its series, indicator, operator, and thresholds filled in."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/risk-templates"
last_updated: "2026-08-02"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/risk-templates.md"
---

# Risk templates

Risk templates are the ready-made [risk conditions](/docs/strategies/risk-condition) listed under **Template** in the condition builder: each one arrives with its instrument, indicator, operator, and thresholds already filled in, so picking one gives you a complete working condition in a single click. They are starting points, not recommendations — Fincanva describes what each template watches and leaves the choice, and any tuning, to you.

**Also seen as:** presets, ready-made conditions.

## What do the built-in risk templates watch?

Eleven templates ship today, grouped in the builder under **Volatility**, **Yield curve**, **Inflation**, and **S&P 500**. Each description below is the one the app shows.

| Group | Template | What it watches |
|---|---|---|
| Volatility | **VIX** | "CBOE volatility index level. Risk-Off when volatility exceeds the threshold." |
| Volatility | **VIX ratio** | "Ratio of short-term (VIX) to medium-term (VXV) implied volatility. Risk-Off when the short term exceeds the medium term." |
| Inflation | **TIPS** | "Average momentum of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. Risk-Off when momentum turns sharply negative." |
| Yield curve | **Short Term (5Y − 3M)** | "Short-end yield curve spread. Risk-Off when inverted." |
| Yield curve | **Medium Term (10Y − 5Y)** | "Mid-curve yield spread. Risk-Off when inverted." |
| Yield curve | **Medium Term (10Y − 5Y, inflation)** | "Inflation-indexed mid-curve spread. Risk-Off when inverted." |
| Yield curve | **Long Term (30Y − 3M)** | "Long-end vs short-end spread. Risk-Off when inverted." |
| Yield curve | **Long Term (30Y − 10Y)** | "Long-end spread. Risk-Off when inverted." |
| Yield curve | **Long Term (30Y − 10Y, inflation)** | "Inflation-indexed long-end spread. Risk-Off when inverted." |
| S&P 500 | **S&P 500 200-day moving average** | "Risk-Off when the S&P 500 crosses below its 200-day simple moving average." |
| S&P 500 | **S&P 500 12-month momentum** | "12-month percent change of the S&P 500. Risk-Off when 12-month momentum turns negative." |

An *inverted* yield curve means the shorter-dated yield in the pair sits above the longer-dated one, so the spread between them turns negative — which is what those templates compare against. The two inflation-indexed spreads read the same pairs on inflation-linked yields instead of nominal ones.

## What can you change once you pick a template?

You can tune the fields the template exposes, and reach the rest through **Show more**. A selected template shows the inputs it expects you to adjust — for most of them the two thresholds and their operators — while the rest of the condition stays as the template set it. **Show more** / **Hide details** reveals the remaining fields, and changing one of those appends " (modified)" after the template's name so you can see the condition no longer matches its template. **Reset to template** puts the original values back. If you would rather start from nothing, the list also offers **Custom** ("Build your own rule from scratch.") with two starting shapes, "Single series" and "Double series" — see [Condition types](/docs/strategies/condition-types).

## Defaults in Fincanva

- Every template ships with **Confirmation delay (weeks)** at 0 and **Auto-rebalance** off — maximum responsiveness, and therefore maximum exposure to [whipsaw](/docs/strategies/whipsaw); add patience or off-schedule rebalancing yourself if you want them.
- Most templates are **Single series** conditions with two thresholds. The **S&P 500 200-day moving average** template is a **Double series** condition instead, comparing the index against its own moving average, so it has no numeric thresholds.
- Several templates read their series untransformed — see [Raw price](/docs/strategies/raw-price).
- Which fields a template exposes for tuning varies: most let you edit the two thresholds and their operators, while the **S&P 500 200-day moving average** template exposes none, so any change to it counts as a modification.
- Where a template's construction is not published — the [Average momentum](/docs/strategies/average-momentum) indicator behind the **TIPS** template, for instance — Fincanva documents what the template observes, not how the value is built.

## Does Fincanva recommend a risk template?

No. Fincanva describes what each template watches and what its fields mean; it does not say which template to use, whether to use one at all, when a strategy should turn defensive, or what threshold to set. A template being built in is not a signal that it works — it is a pre-filled form. See [Is this financial advice?](/docs/investing-theory/is-this-financial-advice#is-this-financial-advice).

## Worked example

You pick the **S&P 500 200-day moving average** template. The builder fills in a **Double series** condition: **Series 1** is the S&P 500 read as a level, and the **Comparison series** is the same index transformed by a [simple moving average](/docs/strategies/simple-moving-average-sma) over 200 days. The comparison between them is the whole condition, which is why no **Thresholds** section appears — there is no number to type.

You then open **Show more**, set **Confirmation delay (weeks)** to 4 so a brief dip below the average is not acted on, and leave **Auto-rebalance** off so a flip rides the strategy's normal rebalance schedule. Because the confirmation delay is not one of the fields this template exposes for tuning, the template's name now reads with " (modified)" after it — a label, not a warning. **Reset to template** would undo both edits.

**Learn more:** [Set up a risk condition](/docs/strategies/set-up-a-risk-condition)