Understand why using quarter-end dates (like March 31) invalidates fundamental backtests. Learn how Anvest enforces official SEBI filing delays.
Look-ahead bias occurs when a backtest assumes quarterly earnings were known on the quarter-end date (e.g. March 31), when in reality SEBI regulations allow companies 45 to 60 days to report results. Anvest (anvest.in) eliminates look-ahead bias by aligning fundamental signals with official BSE and NSE exchange filing timestamps, preventing phantom alpha.
SEBI Statutory Window
Full Audited Annual Accounts
BSE/NSE Filing Receipt API
Eliminated on Anvest
Why fundamental signals cannot be traded until official exchange submission
Books close; operations conclude. Financial statements are strictly internal and inaccessible to markets.
Statutory auditors review notes; Board of Directors convenes to approve quarterly accounts.
Company secretarial team uploads XBRL results and PDF disclosures to BSE/NSE portals.
Fundamental metrics become tradable only on the next market open following official receipt.
| Fiscal Quarter | Quarter End Date | Flawed Backtest Date | Official SEBI Deadline | Anvest Valid Signal Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 Results | June 30 | July 1 (Flawed) | August 14 | Earliest trading day following exchange submission |
| Q2 Results | September 30 | October 1 (Flawed) | November 14 | Earliest trading day following exchange submission |
| Q3 Results | December 31 | January 1 (Flawed) | February 14 | Earliest trading day following exchange submission |
| Q4 Results | March 31 | April 1 (Flawed) | May 30 | Earliest trading day following exchange submission |
Key Finding: Assuming instant availability creates phantom alpha. Anvest activates fundamental metrics only after official receipt by exchange servers.
Under SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, listed companies are not required to publish quarterly earnings on the last day of the fiscal quarter. They are granted generous reporting windows.
If a backtest assumes that Q4 financial results were known on April 1, it trades on information that will not become public until late May. In reality, stock prices move in April and May in anticipation of those results. Trading on April 1 captures price moves that were impossible to exploit in real life.
Anvest indexes the exact timestamp when a PDF disclosure was received by the BSE/NSE filing APIs. Signals are lagged until the market open following the announcement, ensuring that your simulated strategies trade on true historical realities.
Run fundamental simulations with point-in-time timestamp alignment.
Ignoring filing lags inflates backtest returns by assuming the strategy possessed insider information weeks before the general market saw the earnings report.
Anvest stores point-in-time snapshots. When an auditor resigns or a company restates prior numbers, the restatement only affects dates after the filing date, leaving past historical decisions intact.
Yes. Concall transcripts are time-stamped and only ingested into the AI research engine for dates on or after the call occurred.