Equal weights is the allocation method that gives every item the same share of the capital being allocated: with N items, each receives 1/N — four instruments get 25% each, ten get 10% each. It has no parameters, reads no history, and is the method every new strategy and Combined starts on.
Also seen as: equal weighting, equally weighted, 1/N
How is an Equal weights allocation calculated?
Each item's weight is one divided by the number of items, so every weight is identical and together they use the whole capital being allocated.
- the weight given to item i
- the number of items being allocated across — instruments when a strategy allocates, member strategies when a Combined allocates
How does Fincanva handle it?
The app describes the method as "Every instrument receives an equal weight".
- Equal weights is the method a new strategy and a new Combined start on, at both levels.
- It has no parameters at all: the method's card carries no settings, because 1/N leaves nothing to choose.
- It does not use the In-sample calculation window, because it reads no price or fundamental history.
- Weights are recomputed at every rebalance date, so holdings that drifted apart between rebalances are brought back to an even split.
- It is available both across a strategy's instruments and across a Combined's member strategies.
What does it look like in practice?
A strategy holds four instruments: AAPL, MSFT, JNJ, and KO. Under Equal weights, N = 4, so each weight is 1 ÷ 4 = 0.25 — 25% each. On $100,000 of strategy capital that is $25,000 per instrument, regardless of company size, price, or past performance.
Three months later AAPL has doubled and KO is flat, so the actual weights have drifted to roughly 40% / 20% / 20% / 20%. At the next rebalance date Equal weights recomputes 1/4 again, and the strategy sells part of AAPL and tops up the rest to return to 25% each. A Combined holding three strategies works the same way: N = 3, so each strategy receives one third of the Combined's capital.
What counts as a good value?
There is nothing to tune, so the question becomes what an equal split does: it spreads capital without any view on which item is more attractive, so no single holding dominates by construction. That evenness cuts both ways — a small, volatile holding carries the same capital as a large, stable one, so an equally weighted strategy can be more exposed to its smallest holdings than a size-based method would be. Read it alongside a risk measure such as volatility or max drawdown.
Fincanva describes how this method behaves; it never recommends an allocation method or tells you which split to run.