---
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/glossary/risk-templates"
last_updated: "2026-10-06"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/glossary/risk-templates.md"
---

# Risk templates

Risk templates are the ready-made [risk conditions](/glossary/risk-condition) listed in the **Signal** menu of the condition builder: each arrives with its [instrument](/glossary/instrument), indicator, operator and thresholds already filled in, so one pick gives you a complete, working condition. They are starting points, not recommendations — the choice, and any tuning, stays yours.

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

## How does Fincanva handle it?

The VIX template's sheet: its description, CBOE volatility index level, Risk-Off when volatility exceeds the threshold; the rule as sentences — go Risk-Off when the value is above 25, back to Risk-On when it is below 20 — and the behaviour sentence: switch immediately, without rebalancing.

- Eleven templates ship today, grouped under **Volatility**, **Yield curve**, **Inflation** and **S&P 500**. An *inverted* yield curve means the shorter-dated yield in the pair sits above the longer-dated one, so the spread 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.
- Every template ships with **Confirmation delay (weeks)** at 0 and **Auto-rebalance** off — maximum responsiveness, and therefore maximum exposure to [whipsaw](/glossary/whipsaw); add patience or off-schedule [rebalancing](/glossary/rebalance) yourself.
- Most templates are **Single series** conditions with two thresholds. The **S&P 500 200-day moving average** template is a **Double series** condition, comparing the index with its own moving average, so it has no numeric thresholds.
- Several templates read their series untransformed — see [Raw price](/glossary/raw-price).
- Where a template's construction is not published — the [Average momentum](/glossary/average-momentum) behind **TIPS**, for instance — Fincanva documents what it observes, not how the value is built.
- A built-in template is a pre-filled form, not a signal that it works: Fincanva does not say which to use, whether to use one, or what threshold to set. See [Is this financial advice?](/docs/investing-theory/is-this-financial-advice#is-this-financial-advice).

## What does it look like in practice?

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](/glossary/simple-moving-average-sma) over 200 days. The comparison between them is the whole condition, which is why its sentence holds no threshold — there is no number to type.

You then select the [confirmation delay](/glossary/confirmation-delay) in the rule's last sentence, 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](/glossary/strategy)'s normal rebalance schedule. Because the confirmation delay is not one of the fields this template exposes for tuning, its description now reads with " (modified)" after it — a label, not a warning. **Reset to template** would undo both edits. The steps are in [Set up a risk condition](/docs/strategies/set-up-a-risk-condition).

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

Each description below is the one the app shows.

| Group | Template | What it watches |
|---|---|---|
| [Volatility](/glossary/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 is 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." |

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

You can change every value of a template, because the builder shows the whole rule as one sentence and each value in it opens its own control. Each template declares the values it expects you to adjust — for most of them the two thresholds and their operators; the **S&P 500 200-day moving average** template declares none — and changing any other value appends " (modified)" after the template's description, so you can see the condition no longer matches its template. **Reset to template** puts the original values back. To start from nothing, the menu also offers **Custom** ("Build your own rule from scratch.") with two starting shapes, "Single series" and "Double series" — see [Condition types](/glossary/condition-types).

Fincanva is for education and illustration only. It is not personalised financial advice, and past or simulated results do not predict future ones. [Read the Terms Addendum](https://fincanva.com/terms/addendum#section-3)