Returnsthat

Returnsthat is a term used to describe a subset of investment returns that meet or exceed a predefined criterion, such as a target return, a benchmark, or a risk-adjusted threshold. The term is not part of formal finance nomenclature and tends to appear in informal discussions, backtesting reports, or exploratory analyses where the focus is on meaningful or “achieving” performance rather than all observed outcomes.

Origin and concept

The phrase likely arose in online finance communities and practical backtesting workflows to distinguish the returns that investors care about from the complete set of observed outcomes. In this sense, a returnsthat represents the portion of realized or simulated returns that satisfy predefined success criteria, rather than the full distribution of results.

Calculation and interpretation

To identify returnsthat, a threshold is chosen (for example, a target annual return or a risk-adjusted benchmark). Returns in a time series that meet or exceed this threshold are labeled as returnsthat. Analysts may report the average or count of these qualifying returns, compare them across strategies, or analyze how often a strategy achieves the threshold under varying conditions. The approach emphasizes outcomes deemed desirable by the investor or study design.

Applications and cautions

Returnsthat can be useful for communicating selective performance, benchmarking, or evaluating strategy viability under specified goals. However, because the concept is informal and nonstandard, it can lead to cherry-picking or biased interpretation if not clearly defined and consistently applied. Users should accompany returnsthat analyses with full context, including thresholds, time horizons, and the distribution of all returns.

See also

Return, excess return, benchmark, drawdown, risk-adjusted return.