Trend-Following Backtester · Guide · backtest 한국어

equity · US

MediaAlpha, Inc. backtest

10 trend-following strategies were compared on the full daily history of MediaAlpha, Inc.. 10 beat buy-and-hold CAGR; Supertrend ranks first by Sharpe, matching the main backtester. The return/drawdown alternative is Keltner 채널 돌파 (CAGR 4.4%, MDD -32.7%).

Data 2020-10-28 ~ 2026-07-31daily bars 1,445 (5.8 years)Costs 0.5%Venue XNYSMonthly snapshot 2026-07-31

Results by strategy

10 of 10 beat buy and hold (CAGR -15.2%, drawdown -91.6%).

Sharpe leader (same as main): Supertrend — CAGR 24.1%, MDD -58.6%, Sharpe 0.72, 44% exposure.

Return/drawdown alternative: Keltner 채널 돌파 — CAGR is 39.3%p higher than buy and hold, while drawdown improves by 33.0%p (CAGR 4.4%, MDD -32.7%, exposure 13%).

The alternative must retain 75% of buy-and-hold CAGR, improve drawdown by at least 20% and 5 percentage points, and stay below 95% exposure; the ranking weights return retention 60% and drawdown improvement 40%.

Strategy · parametersCAGRMDDSharpeCalmarTotalTradesExposure
Supertrend
period=23, mult=1.5
24.1%-58.6%0.720.413.5x7644%
볼린저 밴드 돌파
n=12, k=1.8
20.6%-38.8%0.690.532.9x7830%
Donchian 채널 돌파
entryN=10, exitN=29
18.6%-60.7%0.590.312.7x3161%
MACD
fast=11, slow=34, signal=12
16.5%-70.4%0.560.232.4x7852%
SMA 크로스오버
fast=7, slow=13
14.9%-68.7%0.530.222.2x12249%
ROC 모멘텀
n=13, threshold=0.1
13.2%-43.9%0.530.302.0x12825%
Parabolic SAR
step=0.025, maxStep=0.08
14.5%-65.0%0.530.222.2x9945%
ADX / DI 방향성
period=8, threshold=39
10.1%-38.2%0.490.261.7x4617%
EMA 크로스오버
fast=5, slow=36
6.0%-61.6%0.350.101.4x4947%
Keltner 채널 돌파
emaPeriod=15, atrPeriod=24, mult=2.3
4.4%-32.7%0.310.131.3x2013%
Buy and hold-15.2%-91.6%0.08-0.170.4x1100%
1x 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 SupertrendBuy and hold
Supertrend: Solid strategy line versus dashed buy-and-hold line. Log scale.
0% -23% -46% -69% -92% 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Buy and holdSupertrend
Supertrend maximum drawdown -58.6% (2021-02-19 → 2022-09-16), recovered after 826 days.

Rules of the top strategy

Trades the direction of a volatility-based trend line that trails below/above price.

Method and caveats

Past performance does not guarantee future returns. Parameters were selected on the same full-history sample using sharpe over 40 trials per strategy, so results contain in-sample bias. 0.5% trading costs are included; taxes, slippage and rejected orders are not.
Re-run the same setupAll asset reports

Read next