Educational screening tool — not investment advice. Not SEBI-registered. Momentum strategies have historically suffered drawdowns of 30–50%. Full disclaimer
What the formula would have produced in the past, under the stated assumptions — shown with its drawdowns, not just its returns. A backtest is a simulation on historical data. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and real-world results would differ.
Run: 12-1 vol-scaled momentum, top 20, monthly, 0.4%/side · 28 Feb 2020 – 30 Jun 2026
Historical backtest — strategy vs Nifty 50. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
How far each series fell below its previous high. This is what holding the strategy actually felt like.
In this backtest, the strategy peaked on 31 Jul 2024 and fell -30.9% to its low on 28 Feb 2025— and had not regained its previous peak by the end of the period. Anyone following a momentum approach through that stretch would have watched roughly ₹100 become ₹69 before any recovery. Momentum strategies have historically suffered drawdowns of 30–50%, and there is no reliable way to know in advance when the next one starts.
| Metric | Strategy | Nifty 50 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAGR | 35.3% | 11.4% | Compound annual growth rate over the full period |
| Max drawdown | -30.9% | -23.2% | Deepest peak-to-trough fall — read this together with CAGR, never alone. |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.03 | 0.34 | Excess return per unit of volatility, using a 6.5% risk-free rate |
Headline numbers are only as good as the assumptions beneath them — read the table below before drawing conclusions.
| Taxes | Not modelled - monthly rebalancing realises short-term capital gains (20%); after-tax results would be materially lower |
|---|---|
| Signal | 12-1 momentum: return from t-252 to t-21 trading days, skipping the most recent month |
| Universe | SMALLCAP250 current constituents (233/250 usable; NSE archives list) - survivorship bias: results are biased upward, plausibly by several % p.a. |
| Benchmark | Nifty 50 (^NSEI) price index - excludes dividends (~1-1.5% p.a.), which flatters the strategy comparison. This is NOT a segment-specific index: no free daily series exists for this segment's own index, so the market benchmark is used - stated, not hidden |
| Portfolio | Top 20 by score, equal weight, monthly rebalance (size fixed a priori by universe breadth, not tuned) |
| Price data | Yahoo Finance daily, adjusted for splits and dividends (yfinance auto_adjust) |
| Risk scaling | Score = 12-1 return / annualized daily-return volatility (trailing 252 days) |
| Risk-free rate | 6.5% p.a. for Sharpe |
| Backtest window | 2020-02-28 - 2026-06-30 (77 months), a broadly momentum-friendly regime; no 2008-style crash included |
| Liquidity filter | Bottom decile by 63-day median traded value excluded at each rebalance |
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| Transaction costs | 0.4% per side on actual turnover, approximating all-in Indian retail costs (brokerage, STT, impact, slippage) (avg 26 bps/month at 65% monthly turnover) |
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More on the method, the academic evidence and momentum's failure modes on the methodology page. How much these results depend on the exact formula is examined on the robustness page.