Run Strategies Forward, Without Risking Real Money
Paper trading in Quantzivo Studio is designed to run your strategies on new market data in virtual portfolios, using simulated orders only.
Forward testing
The step between a backtest and the real world
A backtest only ever sees the past. Paper trading lets a strategy meet data it has never seen, in real time, so you can check whether its behavior still matches what the backtest suggested before drawing any conclusions.
- Virtual portfolios with a starting balance you choose
- Simulated orders generated by the same strategy version you backtested
- Side-by-side tracking of paper results against backtest expectations
- Research logs for notes, deviations and decisions
Simulation only. Paper trading has no broker connection and uses no real money. Simulated fills are estimates and will differ from what would happen in live markets.
Planned capabilities
Everything is simulated, and everything is recorded
Simulated orders
Market, limit and stop orders filled by a simulation model, with the assumed fill price and costs shown on each one.
Virtual portfolios
Separate virtual accounts per strategy or experiment, so results never mix.
Performance tracking
Simulated equity, returns and drawdowns over time, compared with the strategy's backtest.
Trade history
A complete record of every simulated order, fill, cost and position change.
Exposure monitoring
Invested versus cash, concentration by instrument and how close positions are to their limits.
Research logs
Timestamped notes tied to trades and versions, so observations do not get lost.
Know the limits
Why simulated results differ from live markets
Paper trading is more realistic than a backtest because the data is new, but it is still a simulation. These are the main gaps to keep in mind.
| Factor | In Studio paper trading | In live markets |
|---|---|---|
| Money at risk | None. Balances are virtual. | Real capital can be lost, including more than expected in fast markets. |
| Order routing | No broker connection. Orders are never sent anywhere. | Orders pass through a broker and an exchange, with their own rules and delays. |
| Fills | Estimated by a model using available prices. | Depend on the order book, queue position and other participants. |
| Slippage and spreads | Applied as assumptions you configure. | Vary with liquidity, volatility and order size, often unfavorably. |
| Partial fills and rejections | Simplified or not modeled. | Common for limit orders, thin markets and large sizes. |
| Your own behavior | No real pressure to override the strategy. | Losses with real money make it much harder to follow the rules. |
Product status: Quantzivo Studio is in development. Features described here reflect the planned scope and may change before release.
Where it fits
A forward test with a clear question
Backtest first
Only paper trade a version that survived costs, out-of-sample tests and sensitivity checks.
Backtesting
Set expectations
Write down the trade frequency, drawdown and behavior the backtest suggests you should see.
Run it forward
Let the strategy trade a virtual portfolio long enough to produce a meaningful number of trades.
Compare and decide
Check paper results against your expectations, then revise, keep observing or retire the idea.
Exposure & performance
See risk build up before it shows in returns
Returns arrive late; exposure is visible immediately. The paper trading dashboard is designed to show how much of each virtual portfolio is at work, where it is concentrated and how today's drawdown compares with the backtest's history.
Invested, cash and gross exposure at a glance- Concentration by instrument against your position limits
- Current drawdown compared with the backtested range
Research logs
What a useful paper trading log records
Memory is selective, especially about trades. Logs are designed to capture context at the moment it happens, linked to the trade and strategy version.
The hypothesis
What the strategy is supposed to capture, written before the first simulated trade.
Version and settings
The exact strategy version, parameters and cost assumptions in use.
Deviations
Where paper behavior differs from the backtest: more trades, larger losses, different timing.
Market context
Notable events or regime changes that may explain unusual results.
Decisions
Changes you make and why, recorded before you see whether they help.
Lessons
What the experiment taught you, even, and especially, when the answer is "this does not work".
Paper trading FAQs
Questions about simulated trading
No. Portfolios are virtual and all orders are simulated. Nothing you do in paper trading moves real money or creates a real position.
No. Quantzivo Studio is planned as a research and simulation environment and does not connect to brokers or execute live trades.
New data rarely looks like the past. Differences can come from changing market conditions, overfitting in the original backtest, or a small number of trades so far. Investigating the gap is the most valuable part of paper trading.
No. Simulated fills, costs and behavior differ from live trading, and short paper periods can be lucky. Paper trading is a research step, not evidence of future results. See the risk disclaimer.
Paper Trading
See how your strategy behaves after the backtest
Request early access to Quantzivo Studio and help us shape simulated paper trading, portfolio tracking and research logs.