---
title: "Strategy's own performance"
description: "Strategy's own performance is a Combined-only risk rule: it watches the Combined itself and goes Risk-Off on high volatility, a deep drawdown or a broken trend."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/glossary/strategy-s-own-performance"
last_updated: "2026-10-06"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/glossary/strategy-s-own-performance.md"
---

# Strategy's own performance

Strategy's own performance is a quantitative risk rule for a [Combined](/glossary/combined) that watches the Combined's own value instead of a market series, and switches it to its Risk-Off allocation when that value becomes too volatile, falls too far from its peak, or drops below its [moving average](/glossary/simple-moving-average-sma), whichever of the three metrics you pick.

**Also seen as:** portfolio-based rule, equity-curve trading, portfolio stop

$$
\text{Realized volatility:}\;\; {\sigma_t} \ge {\theta}
\qquad
\text{Drawdown:}\;\; 1 - \frac{{P_t}}{{\max_{s \le t} P_s}} \ge {\theta}
\qquad
\text{Trend vs moving average:}\;\; {P_t} < (1 - {g}) \times {\overline{P}_{t,n}}
$$

where:

- the watched value's annualised volatility over the window
- the threshold you set
- the watched value on day t
- its highest value so far
- its average over the last n days
- the gap from the average

In words: Risk-Off while the Combined swings more than you set, sits at least the set share below its [peak](/glossary/max-drawdown), or trades below its moving average by more than the gap.

## How does Fincanva handle it?

- It is one of three rules under **Quantitative regimes** in the [risk condition](/glossary/risk-condition) builder, described as "Watches your combined strategy itself, not an index: you move to Risk-Off when it gets too turbulent, falls too far from its peak or breaks its trend." It is offered at the [Combined level](/glossary/combined-level) and never inside a single [strategy](/glossary/strategy), and there is no series to choose.
- **About twice the calculation time**: the [backtest](/glossary/backtest) first simulates the Combined held Risk-On with no costs, then runs it for real. The builder says "About twice the calculation time." and "That is why the simulation does not start on its own: you start it." — after a change, the Combined waits for you to start the backtest.
- It stays Risk-On until its window is full, and each test uses only data up to the day it judges. One threshold, no hysteresis: the [confirmation delay](/glossary/confirmation-delay) is the brake ("This rule has a single threshold: the delay is your brake against switching too often. 0 = immediate."); **Auto-rebalance** works as on any condition.
- **Strategy's own performance is included from the Ultimate plan**, at the Combined level; on Advanced it still appears in the list, tagged with the [plan level](/glossary/plan-level) that includes it. See [what each plan includes](/docs/account-security/what-each-plan-includes).

## What does it look like in practice?

A Combined holding two strategies gets a Strategy's own performance rule with **Drawdown** at 15% and a confirmation delay of 1 week. Its always-Risk-On version peaks at 120,000. Over the next two months it falls to 108,000 — a 10% drawdown, under the threshold, so nothing happens. It keeps falling to 101,000: $1 - 101{,}000 / 120{,}000 \approx 15.8\%$, at or above 15%, so the rule asks for Risk-Off, and a week later the Combined switches to its Risk-Off allocation.

It returns to Risk-On once the always-Risk-On version climbs back within 15% of its peak — above 102,000 — and the delay has passed. With **Realized volatility** at 20% instead, the same stretch would have switched only if the Combined's 21-day [volatility](/glossary/volatility) rose to 20% a year, however far it had fallen. The figures are illustrative, not a suggested setting.

## What does the rule watch?

The rule watches your Combined as it would have run if it had always stayed Risk-On, with no costs — the app's note reads "Always held Risk-On, with no costs. No series to choose." It does not watch the Combined's actual curve, because that curve already reflects the rule's own switches: judging it would make every switch change the signal that caused it. Holding the watched version permanently Risk-On keeps the signal independent of the decision it drives.

## Which metrics can it use?

The rule reads one **Metric**:

| Metric | Window | Threshold | Risk-Off when |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Realized volatility** (default) | 10–252 trading days, default 21 | annual volatility, 5%–100%, default 20% | "volatility exceeds this value" |
| **Drawdown** | none — "Not needed: measured from the previous peak." | loss from peak, 2%–50%, default 10% | "the Combined loses at least this share from its peak" |
| **Trend vs moving average** | moving average of 10–252 days, default 200 | gap from the average, 0%–10%, default 0% | "the Combined falls below its moving average by more than this gap" |

Volatility uses a trailing window and a yearly figure; drawdown needs no window because it is always measured from the running peak; the trend test with a gap of 0% fires as soon as the Combined is below its average. In the list of risk conditions a saved rule shows "Strategy's own performance" with its metric and threshold, for example "≥ 20%" with "21-day window", or "< average" with "200-day moving average".

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)