Historical Survivorship Adjustments
Historical survivorship adjustments are the technical corrections applied to datasets to include assets that no longer trade, ensuring a backtest reflects the reality of the entire market. This involves sourcing comprehensive historical data feeds that contain defunct ticker symbols and their corresponding price histories.
Without these adjustments, the backtest results are statistically invalid because they ignore the negative impact of failed assets on the total portfolio return. In the cryptocurrency space, where token mortality is high, these adjustments are essential for accurate risk assessment.
By including failed projects, the backtest provides a more realistic expectation of the probability of failure for new investments. It forces the trader to account for the true cost of market entry and exit in a volatile environment.