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Finaxion Research · Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) · indices and ETFs · Recomputed 2026-09-10

Does Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) work on IWM?

Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) does not beat buy-and-hold on IWM: -14.1 points a year over 26 years.

Total return
-76.7%
Buy and hold
801.9%
CAGR
-5.4%
Sharpe
-0.54
Max drawdown
-81.6%
Trades
1054
Out of sample
overfit
Years
26
1×9×2001200320052007200920112013201520172019202120232025
StrategyIWM

Findings

  1. Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) does not beat buy-and-hold on IWM: -14.1 points a year over 26 years.
  2. Against the S&P 500 over the same window: -14.1 points a year.
  3. Total return -76.7% versus +801.9% for buy-and-hold, with 1054 trades.
  4. The result does not hold out of sample: it is overfit.
  5. Maximum drawdown -81.6%.
  6. It beats in neither half of the history (split at 2013).
  7. It ranks #201 of 235 markets for this strategy by annual excess over the S&P 500.

Findings derived from the full panel. Each carries its number and its denominator; the computations are reproducible with artifact 6540eaf5c46b.

Exactly what was tested

Close crosses above KAMA(10, 2, 30) → entry; close crosses below → exit.

How to read it

The verdict compares the strategy with buying and holding IWM over the same window, with round-trip costs per asset class. “Out of sample” is walk-forward: the rule is fit on one stretch and judged on the next. A result that beats in the full sample but not out of it is overfit. Full methodology in the protocol. How we test.

Open this backtest with its trades   Trades (CSV)

Every strategy on IWM → · Full page for Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) →

How to cite

Finaxion Research (2026). Does Kaufman’s adaptive moving average (KAMA) work on IWM?. Daily backtest 1962-01-01–2026-08-31, artifact 6540eaf5c46b. https://finaxion.app/en/research/kama-adaptive-average/iwm

Not a recommendation. Past performance does not guarantee future results.