Compare Historical Portfolios

🔬 What the Multi-Asset Backtest is

The Backtest applies a fixed allocation (with no recurring contributions) to real monthly historical data from 2010 to today across 10 instruments. It answers the question: "If I had invested this amount with this allocation back in 2010, what would have happened?" You can select from 1 to 4 scenarios at once among Custom, Preset and Single-ETF Scenarios, to compare their return, volatility and maximum drawdown side by side.

⭐ Custom Scenarios

The 4 Custom Scenarios are fully free allocations, saveable and renameable — the pencil ✏️ on each card opens the edit popup.

• Allocation — freely distribute the share across the 10 available instruments using the sliders, up to 100%
• Profile — set Objective, Risk Tolerance and Time Horizon: this is the basis for the Evaluation Card
• Name — personalise it to recognise it at a glance (e.g. "Retirement at 60")
• ↺ Reset — the circular arrow returns the card to its factory-default values
• ➡️ Create/Update Portfolio — creates a new Portfolio in the Investor Area using the exchange, ticker, allocation and profile of this scenario (without recurring contributions, income or rebalancing, concepts not present in the Backtest). If a portfolio with the same name already exists, it's updated instead of creating a new one

Your 4 scenarios are saved to your account (or to your browser if you're not logged in) and remain available on every visit.

⚖️ Comparing multiple scenarios

Click one or more cards — Custom, Preset, or Single ETFs — to select them: results and charts update immediately, showing all selected scenarios side by side.

• Up to 4 scenarios together — selecting a fifth automatically deselects the first one selected
• Always at least 1 active — you can't deselect the last remaining scenario
• Direct comparison — Final Value, CAGR, Volatility and Maximum Drawdown are shown side by side for each scenario, and all lines appear together in the charts below, each in a distinct colour

📋 Evaluation Card and AI Coach

When you select a single Custom Scenario, two additional blocks automatically appear before the charts: the Profile (Objective, Risk and Horizon set) and the Evaluation Card — a Score from 0 to 100 calculated on that allocation's real historical data, with the same KPIs and badges as the Simulator's Evaluation Card. Use the Generate AI evaluation button for a personalised analysis: the result stays saved to the scenario until the allocation or profile is changed. Selecting 2 or more scenarios together automatically hides these two blocks: the Evaluation Card compares a stated profile against a single historical result, so it only makes sense for one scenario at a time.

💰 Final Value

The Final Value is the portfolio's value at the end of the analysed period (2010–today), starting from the entered starting capital. It isn't a future forecast: it's the actual result this portfolio would have produced had it been held for the entire period without ever selling. The growth percentage shown below (e.g. +471%) shows how many times the capital multiplied relative to the starting investment.

📈 Annual Growth (CAGR)

CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) is the portfolio's average annual compound return over the analysed period. It's the most useful measure for comparing different strategies over long horizons. Concrete example: a 10% CAGR means £10,000 would have become roughly £67,000 in 20 years, thanks to compound interest.

• Below 4% — low return, often below historical inflation
• 4–8% — within the historical norm for balanced portfolios
• Above 8% — high, typical of portfolios with a large equity share

📊 Volatility

Annualised volatility measures how much the portfolio's value swings over time. A value of 12% means that, in a normal year, the portfolio can rise or fall by roughly ±12% relative to its expected value.

• Below 8% — low, typical of portfolios with lots of cash or bonds
• 8–15% — average, the typical range for balanced portfolios
• Above 15% — high, portfolios with a heavy equity component

Volatility isn't a synonym for loss. It's the size of the swings, not their direction. A volatile portfolio can still grow substantially over the long run.

⬇️ Max Drawdown

Max drawdown shows the largest fall recorded from a peak to the subsequent low over the analysed period. It answers the question: "How much would I have lost at the worst point?" Example: a −50% drawdown means that in certain periods (like 2008), the global equity portfolio lost half its value before recovering.

• Above −20% — contained, typical of portfolios with a high Cash share or well diversified
• −20% / −40% — significant, normal for balanced portfolios during crises
• Below −40% — high, requires a lot of discipline not to sell at the worst moments

📉 Value Chart

Shows the portfolio's value month by month from 2010 to today, starting from the entered starting capital. Each line corresponds to a selected scenario. The divergence between the lines over time represents the difference in performance between the various allocations: during bullish phases, the lines with more equities grow faster; during crises, they fall further.

📉 Drawdown Chart

Shows the percentage fall of the portfolio relative to its previous historical high at every point in time. When the line is at 0%, the portfolio is at its historical high. The deep troughs correspond to market crises (2011, 2020, 2022). Useful for understanding two things: how long, and how deeply, the portfolio would have stayed "below" its peak. A portfolio with fewer equities has smaller drawdowns, but also slower growth over the long run.