What is Kistack — A first look at backtesting

When you first land here, a couple of words (CAGR, MDD) and the screen layout might feel new. This piece walks through what we built and what backtesting actually is, so it works even if backtesting is brand new to you.

So what is backtesting

Backtesting means running the question "what would have happened if I had done that?" against real historical market data. Like this one:

"If I had put $10,000 into SPY in 2014 and left it alone for 10 years, how much would I have today?"

You can't answer that in your head. But with 10 years of price data, a computer can simulate each day and produce an exact number. That is backtesting.

Think of it like a driving simulator. Turning the wheel in your head is one thing; running the simulator on a real road is another — different amount of information. What we do is the simulator side. Kistack is a tool that takes a set of assets, mixes them by weight, and runs that mix on past data.

What to look at on the result screen

After one run, the result screen shows several number cards. Final value, principal contributed, total return, CAGR, MDD, and total dividends all appear together. Two of them deserve your attention first: CAGR and MDD.

• CAGR (compound annual growth rate) — one line that tells you the average yearly growth across the period. CAGR 8% means it compounded at 8% each year.
• MDD (maximum drawdown) — the deepest dip from a peak during the period. MDD -32% means there was a point where the value sat 32% below its high.

The two numbers carry meaning together. An asset with CAGR 10% and MDD -50% has a different character from one with CAGR 8% and MDD -15%. The result screen also draws the equity curve — the shape alone tells you whether the climbs are steep or the falls are deep.

Trying it yourself

There are four core inputs. The other options — currency (KRW/USD), dividend handling (reinvest or exclude), benchmark comparison — start with sensible defaults, so you can leave them as-is at first.

If this is your first run, try one ticker like SPY as a lump sum. After looking at the result, change only the period for the next run, or split the weight for the third one. The same asset can produce very different outcomes depending on the conditions, and you'll see that side by side.

One thing worth keeping in mind

What you see is a simulation built from past market data. Real accounts include trading fees, taxes, slippage (small differences in execution price), and rebalancing — none of which are reflected here. Under the same conditions, the actual return can come out lower than the displayed value.

The bigger point is that past behavior is not a promise about the future. Market conditions, policy, and industry structure all shift over time.

The point of the tool isn't to hand you an answer. It's to let you turn the assumption in your head into a number, look at the number, and then run it again with the conditions changed. Going back and forth like that — instead of trusting a single result — is the natural way to use it.

• This information is not investment advice.
• Past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Backtest results are simulations and may differ from actual trading outcomes.