BacktestBench: Benchmarking Large Language Models for Automated Quantitative Strategy Backtesting

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wang, Zhensheng, Yang, Wenmian, Wu, Qingtai, Ma, Lequan, Zhang, Yiquan, Jia, Weijia
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Wang, Zhensheng
Yang, Wenmian
Wu, Qingtai
Ma, Lequan
Zhang, Yiquan
Jia, Weijia
author_facet Wang, Zhensheng
Yang, Wenmian
Wu, Qingtai
Ma, Lequan
Zhang, Yiquan
Jia, Weijia
contents Quantitative backtesting is essential for evaluating trading strategies but remains hampered by high technical barriers and limited scalability. While Large Language Models (LLMs) offer a transformative path to automate this complex, interdisciplinary workflow through advanced code generation, tool usage, and agentic planning, the practical realization is significantly challenged by the current lack of a large-scale benchmark dedicated to automated quantitative backtesting, which hinders progress in this field. To bridge this critical gap, we introduce BacktestBench, the first large-scale benchmark for automated quantitative backtesting. Built from over 6 million real market records, it comprises 18,246 meticulously annotated question-answering pairs across four task categories: metrics calculation, ticker selection, strategy selection, and parameter confirmation. We also propose AutoBacktest, a robust multi-agent baseline that translates natural language strategies into reproducible backtests by coordinating a Summarizer for semantic factor extraction, a Retriever for validated SQL generation, and a Coder for Python backtesting implementation. Our evaluation on 23 mainstream LLMs, complemented by targeted ablations, identifies key factors that influence end-to-end performance and highlights the importance of grounded verification and standardized indicator representations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_17937
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle BacktestBench: Benchmarking Large Language Models for Automated Quantitative Strategy Backtesting
Wang, Zhensheng
Yang, Wenmian
Wu, Qingtai
Ma, Lequan
Zhang, Yiquan
Jia, Weijia
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Quantitative backtesting is essential for evaluating trading strategies but remains hampered by high technical barriers and limited scalability. While Large Language Models (LLMs) offer a transformative path to automate this complex, interdisciplinary workflow through advanced code generation, tool usage, and agentic planning, the practical realization is significantly challenged by the current lack of a large-scale benchmark dedicated to automated quantitative backtesting, which hinders progress in this field. To bridge this critical gap, we introduce BacktestBench, the first large-scale benchmark for automated quantitative backtesting. Built from over 6 million real market records, it comprises 18,246 meticulously annotated question-answering pairs across four task categories: metrics calculation, ticker selection, strategy selection, and parameter confirmation. We also propose AutoBacktest, a robust multi-agent baseline that translates natural language strategies into reproducible backtests by coordinating a Summarizer for semantic factor extraction, a Retriever for validated SQL generation, and a Coder for Python backtesting implementation. Our evaluation on 23 mainstream LLMs, complemented by targeted ablations, identifies key factors that influence end-to-end performance and highlights the importance of grounded verification and standardized indicator representations.
title BacktestBench: Benchmarking Large Language Models for Automated Quantitative Strategy Backtesting
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.17937