Set up a risk condition

↗See this in Fincanva — a strategy's Settings, on the Risk card

Before you start

You need a strategy open in its settings, with the Risk card visible — see Editing a strategy: the settings cards. For what the two regimes are before you configure one, see Risk conditions.

Steps

1. Open the strategy's Risk card and select Add a condition — or Add second condition if a first one already exists. Either opens the condition builder — "Configure a market condition that flips this strategy to its Risk-Off allocation."
2. Choose what the rule watches from the Signal menu at the top. A ready-made template, grouped under Volatility, Yield curve, Inflation and S&P 500, fills the rule in for you; the two blank ones under Custom are Single series — one instrument's indicator against two thresholds — and Double series, which compares two series directly. The Quantitative regimes group lists Hidden regimes (Markov), Clustering and, on a Combined, Strategy's own performance: rules that decide from a model, with their own settings in place of the indicator, operator and thresholds. The template's description appears under the menu, with " (modified)" after it once you change what it set, and the reset button beside the menu puts it back as it ships.
3. Read the rule as a sentence and set its values. The builder writes the rule out — for the VIX template, "Go Risk-Off when the value of" the VIX "is above 25. Back to Risk-On when it is below 20." — and every value in it is underlined: select one to open a small panel holding its control and a short explanation. The instrument opens the instrument search; the measure ("value", "200-day moving average") opens the Indicator — Raw price, Simple moving average, Percent change or Average momentum — with a Period field when the indicator reads over a window; each comparison opens its operator; each number opens its field.
4. On a Single series rule, set both halves: the Risk-Off comparison that switches the strategy into its Risk-Off allocation, and the Risk-On comparison that switches it back. A Double series rule has one comparison between its two series and no thresholds.
5. Set the last sentence, "When the rule flips, switch immediately without rebalancing.": the first value is the Confirmation delay (weeks) — "0 = act immediately.", 0 to 12 weeks — and the second is Auto-rebalance — "Trigger a rebalance when the condition flips." — which you turn on if you want a flip to trigger an extra rebalance right away instead of waiting for the next scheduled one.
6. Select Save condition, or Cancel to close without saving.
7. Optional: repeat from step 1 and select Add second condition. Two conditions combine as "Any match → Risk-Off" — either one firing is enough.

What you should see

Your condition appears summarized on the Risk card — its instrument, indicator, and thresholds — with edit and remove actions next to it. A saved condition only changes what the strategy actually holds once its Risk-Off allocation is also set — see What Risk-Off does to your allocation and How Risk-Off affects rebalancing for how a flip reaches your holdings. Risk-Off profiles commonly hold a lower invested portion — more cash, less market exposure — see Invested capital and cash reserve. Take profit and stop loss are separate rules on the Position exits card, not part of a risk condition — see Position exits. Fincanva doesn't tell you which condition, indicator, or thresholds to set — see Is this financial advice?.

Common problems

"Enter a value."

A value the rule needs — the Period of a moving average or a percent change — was left empty. The value turns red in the sentence and the message stays under it; select the value and fill it in before selecting Save condition. An empty instrument reads "choose an instrument" in the sentence, with "Pick an instrument." under it.

"Confirmation delay must be between 0 and 12 weeks."

The Confirmation delay (weeks) field only accepts whole numbers from 0 to 12. Enter a value in that range — 0 acts immediately, 12 waits three months of confirmation before the strategy switches.