---
title: "What is a strategy in Fincanva?"
description: "A strategy in Fincanva is a saved, reusable set of instruments plus allocation and exit rules that you backtest and follow over time on real market data."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/what-is-a-strategy-in-fincanva"
last_updated: "2026-07-22"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/strategies/what-is-a-strategy-in-fincanva.md"
---

# What is a strategy in Fincanva?

A strategy in Fincanva is a saved set of instruments together with rules for how money is allocated across them and when positions change. A strategy (formerly called a *model*) is the unit you backtest, save in your library, and follow over time.

## What does a strategy contain?
A strategy contains the instruments it trades plus the settings that govern how they're weighted and when they change. Each controls a different part:

- **Asset selection** — the instruments the strategy trades, chosen as a basket you pick by hand or by attaching a screener that selects them for you.
- **Allocation** — how capital is distributed across those instruments.
- **Rebalance every** — how often the weights are refreshed.
- **Risk** (optional) — conditions that switch the strategy to its Risk-Off allocation when they trigger.
- **Position exits** (optional) — conditions that close a position.

Together these settings define exactly what the strategy would have done over any historical period.

## Why build a strategy instead of picking instruments by hand?
A strategy is reusable, testable, and modular, which a one-off hand-picked list of instruments is not. Because it is saved as a defined set of rules, you can backtest it over history to see how those same rules would have behaved, re-run it as new data arrives, and reuse it later without rebuilding it. It is also a building block for a combined strategy (formerly a *portfolio*), covered in the next section. To start one, follow [Create a strategy](/docs/strategies/create-a-strategy-and-choose-its-instruments); to pick the shape that fits your idea, see [Choosing a strategy type](/docs/strategies/choosing-a-strategy-type).

## How is a strategy different from a combined strategy?
A strategy holds instruments directly, while a combined strategy holds other strategies as its building blocks. Use a single strategy for one coherent idea; use a combined strategy to blend several strategies into one book. In the app the two are separated in the Strategies navigation under "Single" and "Combined".

## Limits and edge cases
A strategy needs at least one instrument before it can be backtested or saved. If it selects instruments through a screener instead of a fixed basket, at least one screener must be attached; [Create a strategy](/docs/strategies/create-a-strategy-and-choose-its-instruments) covers the exact gate messages. There is no fixed upper limit on the number of instruments a strategy can hold today.

## Related
To build one, follow [Create a strategy](/docs/strategies/create-a-strategy-and-choose-its-instruments). To choose the right shape, see [Choosing a strategy type](/docs/strategies/choosing-a-strategy-type). For a headline result metric a backtest reports, see [CAGR](/docs/analysis/cagr).