What Triggers an Acubic Rebalance?

The most practical question a new Acubic user asks, once they understand what the AI does not do, is the one this article answers: what actually causes a rebalance to happen? The answer shapes every decision about automation mode, rebalance frequency, and whether to leave full-auto running unsupervised. Getting it right matters before you hand the scheduler any real authority over a live account.

The schedule is the trigger

Acubic's rebalance is schedule-based. When you configure a broker connection, you set how often rebalances should run: monthly, quarterly, or annually. On the date the scheduler reaches, it fires. There is no separate drift threshold that triggers an early rebalance between scheduled dates. If your portfolio drifts substantially between one rebalance date and the next, that drift stays in place until the scheduled run.

The frequency decision is therefore a decision about how much drift you are willing to accept between corrections. This differs from threshold-based rebalancing systems, which run whenever portfolio weights deviate beyond a fixed percentage from their targets regardless of date. The article on how often to rebalance a portfolio covers the trade-offs between monthly, quarterly, and annual cadences and explains how the calculation shifts when rebalancing is automated rather than manual.

What the scheduler does when it fires

When the scheduled date arrives, the scheduler reads your live positions from the connected broker. It compares the current holdings and weights against the target allocation of the strategy attached to that connection. It then constructs the smallest set of orders that closes the gap between the two.

A few things are worth stating precisely here, because common assumptions about automated portfolio tools are often wrong.

A rebalance is not a liquidate-and-rebuild. Positions already at their target weight are not touched. If a holding has not drifted meaningfully from its target, no order is placed for it. In a stable market, a scheduled rebalance may produce few or no trades at all. In a period of significant price movement, it may produce more. The number of orders in any given rebalance depends on how much the portfolio has actually moved, not on a fixed list of positions to sell and repurchase.

The scope of the rebalance is also bounded by the managed set you defined at connection time. Holdings outside the capital figure you assigned are left alone entirely. An account does not need to be dedicated exclusively to Acubic, and positions you hold outside the managed set are never touched regardless of which automation mode is running.

The construction process reruns each time, not a fixed basket

One detail about the rebalance trigger matters more than it might seem at first: each scheduled run reruns the full screen-select-allocate construction process, rather than returning to a fixed target basket set at connection time.

This means the target allocation the scheduler compares against is derived fresh on each rebalance date, not locked in from initial setup. The screening step removes assets without sufficient price history. The selection step ranks the eligible universe by the method you chose: market capitalization, trailing Sharpe ratio, or trailing momentum. The allocation step then sets weights using the optimizer, subject to your risk constraints.

The practical implication is that the portfolio's target weights can shift from one rebalance to the next as the underlying data changes. An asset that ranked highly six months ago may rank differently today if its trailing Sharpe ratio has changed. The rebalance defends the output of applying your stated construction method to the current universe, not a specific list of tickers from when you first connected.

This is the distinction that why Acubic does not predict the market sets up: the construction process uses historical data and stated constraints, not a forecast. Each rebalance applies the same documented method to the current state of the market. Whether the result produces more or fewer changes than the previous run depends on what the data shows, not on a prediction.

Whether the trigger leads to execution depends on your automation mode

A scheduled trigger fires regardless of your automation mode. What differs is what happens next.

In monitoring mode, the scheduler runs its analysis and records the drift from target weights, but no order set is prepared and nothing is sent to the broker. The trigger fires and produces a tracking update, not a trade.

In one-click approval mode, the scheduler fires, reads live positions, runs the construction process, and prepares the order set. It then stops and waits. The proposed trades are flagged for your review, and nothing is submitted to the broker until you approve them. If you do nothing, the rebalance does not execute.

In full-auto mode, the scheduler fires and runs the same process but does not stop for approval. The order set is submitted to the broker directly. Safety guards remain in place: one order executes at a time, position sizing rounds down rather than up, and a sanity check runs against the managed value before orders are sent. If the calculated trade set looks implausible relative to the managed value you defined, the run halts rather than executing. Every order, including rejections, is recorded in an audit log.

The article on one-click vs full-auto rebalancing covers the three modes in full, including what each one does on both supported brokers and how to decide which mode fits your situation.

How the trigger behaves differently on eToro and Trading 212

The broker you have connected imposes a structural constraint on which automation modes are available, independent of any setting inside Acubic.

On a standard eToro connection, every scheduled trigger leads to a one-click approval prompt. Full-auto rebalancing is not available on a main eToro account. This is not a policy choice; it reflects the architecture of a standard eToro connection, which does not support unattended execution by a third-party application. The trigger fires, the order set is prepared, and execution waits for your approval before any order is sent.

Unattended rebalancing on eToro is available only through an eToro mirrored account: a ring-fenced sub-account you fund separately from your main balance. When you connect an eToro mirrored account, the scheduler can fire and execute without a per-order prompt. Your main eToro account is not involved and is not affected. The eToro connection article explains the difference between a main account and a mirrored account connection and why the constraint exists.

On a Trading 212 connection, all three automation modes are available directly on the main Invest account. The scheduler can run in monitoring, one-click, or full-auto from the outset, with no separate sub-account required. The Trading 212 connection article covers the setup steps and what the API key permission set enables for automated rebalancing.

When a scheduled trigger fires but nothing executes

Several conditions can cause a scheduled trigger to fire without resulting in trades, and understanding them helps set accurate expectations about how the system behaves.

In monitoring mode, the system is designed to produce no trades. This is a correct outcome.

In one-click mode, an approval that never arrives means the rebalance does not execute. The trigger fired; the order set was prepared; no trades ran. This is also a correct outcome: one-click mode requires your presence between calculation and execution, and if you were not available, the run waits for the next scheduled date.

In full-auto mode, if the sanity check determines the calculated order set is implausible relative to the managed value, the run halts. Every order, including halted runs, is recorded in the audit log with the reason.

In all modes, if the portfolio has not drifted from its target weights on the scheduled date, the rebalance produces no orders. A run with no orders is a valid rebalance: the scheduler checked, found no meaningful gap, and did nothing. That is the intended behavior.

What to configure and how to start

The rebalance trigger is configured at the broker connection screen: choose a frequency (monthly, quarterly, or annually) and an automation mode. Both can be changed at any time through the connection settings without affecting existing positions.

A practical starting point for most users is quarterly frequency and one-click approval mode. Quarterly limits the number of approval prompts to four per year; one-click keeps you informed on each run before anything reaches the broker. If you want to understand what the scheduler will propose before committing to full-auto, reviewing a few rebalances in one-click mode is the most direct way to build that confidence.

The construction method the scheduler uses on each trigger is documented in full at the methodology page, including the screen-select-allocate process, the three allocation methods available, and the five published model limitations. Acubic does not promise returns and does not predict short-term market moves. The scheduler applies your stated method on the date you set, proposes or executes the minimum corrections needed, and records every action for your review.