Paper portfolios versus real trading: what a simulation cannot prove
By DANA · Product education · Published 8 October 2026
A paper portfolio records hypothetical positions without placing brokerage orders or risking real money. It can help explain a model’s behaviour, but it cannot prove that the same trades would execute at the same prices or produce the same outcome in a real account.
What DANA actually simulates
DANA’s paper engine applies council outputs to a virtual portfolio and keeps a record of simulated positions and trades. The implementation inspected on 8 October 2026 includes assumed spread, commission and short-borrow costs. It also has time-based exits and council-reversal handling. These are rules and modelling assumptions, not broker quotes or a promise that a real account can follow them.
Including costs is different from measuring execution
The inspected engine defines a 0.10% spread assumption and a 0.10% commission assumption per trade, plus a 3% annual short-borrow assumption. Those numbers are simulation inputs. Actual costs vary by broker, security, size and market conditions; borrow may be unavailable. A fixed assumption cannot reproduce every partial fill, delay, trading halt, spread change or market impact.
Read timestamps and missing data
A portfolio value is a snapshot, not a continuously executable balance. DANA shows a last-refreshed time so the value can be understood in context. Stale or unavailable prices can limit a comparison. Missing benchmark data does not establish outperformance, and an empty portfolio does not establish that the model never takes positions.
Why a simulated return is not a real return
Hypothetical evaluation cannot fully reproduce real-world execution or the experience of taking losses with actual money. The result also depends on the chosen period, the data and the model rules. Backtested and simulated results are hypothetical; past performance does not guarantee future results. Avoid drawing a conclusion from one profitable example or a short period.
Use the portfolio as a learning record
Compare the signal date, assumed entry, recorded exit reason, costs and price-refresh time. Observe how the rules behave when signals change or data is missing. This helps explain the system without converting a virtual balance into a claim about attainable returns. DANA is not a brokerage and does not place real trades.