iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund (ACWI)

TotalReturn:

'Total return, when measuring performance, is the actual rate of return of an investment or a pool of investments over a given evaluation period. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period of time. Total return accounts for two categories of return: income including interest paid by fixed-income investments, distributions or dividends and capital appreciation, representing the change in the market price of an asset.'

• Looking at the total return, or performance of 61.8% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (96.4%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 17.2%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 28.9% from the benchmark.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a useful measure of growth over multiple time periods. It can be thought of as the growth rate that gets you from the initial investment value to the ending investment value if you assume that the investment has been compounding over the time period.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (14.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 10.1% of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (8.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 5.5% is lower, thus worse.

Volatility:

'In finance, volatility (symbol σ) is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time as measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns. Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option). Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 20% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (21%)
• Looking at historical 30 days volatility in of 16.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (17.5%).

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 14.5%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (15%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside risk in of 11.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (12.3%).

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio is the measure of risk-adjusted return of a financial portfolio. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess portfolio return over the risk-free rate relative to its standard deviation. Normally, the 90-day Treasury bill rate is taken as the proxy for risk-free rate. A portfolio with a higher Sharpe ratio is considered superior relative to its peers. The measure was named after William F Sharpe, a Nobel laureate and professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University.'

• Looking at the Sharpe Ratio of 0.38 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.57)
• Looking at risk / return profile (Sharpe) in of 0.18 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.36).

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio improves upon the Sharpe ratio by isolating downside volatility from total volatility by dividing excess return by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that differentiates harmful volatility from total overall volatility by using the asset's standard deviation of negative asset returns, called downside deviation. The Sortino ratio takes the asset's return and subtracts the risk-free rate, and then divides that amount by the asset's downside deviation. The ratio was named after Frank A. Sortino.'

• The excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 0.53, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.8) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 0.26, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 0.52 from the benchmark.

Ulcer:

'Ulcer Index is a method for measuring investment risk that addresses the real concerns of investors, unlike the widely used standard deviation of return. UI is a measure of the depth and duration of drawdowns in prices from earlier highs. Using Ulcer Index instead of standard deviation can lead to very different conclusions about investment risk and risk-adjusted return, especially when evaluating strategies that seek to avoid major declines in portfolio value (market timing, dynamic asset allocation, hedge funds, etc.). The Ulcer Index was originally developed in 1987. Since then, it has been widely recognized and adopted by the investment community. According to Nelson Freeburg, editor of Formula Research, Ulcer Index is “perhaps the most fully realized statistical portrait of risk there is.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 9.94 , which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (9.33 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 11 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 10 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown is defined as the peak-to-trough decline of an investment during a specific period. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak value. The maximum drawdown can be calculated based on absolute returns, in order to identify strategies that suffer less during market downturns, such as low-volatility strategies. However, the maximum drawdown can also be calculated based on returns relative to a benchmark index, for identifying strategies that show steady outperformance over time.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -33.5 days of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is higher, thus better.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -26.4 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-24.5 days).

MaxDuration:

'The Maximum Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. It is the length of time the account was in the Max Drawdown. A Max Drawdown measures a retrenchment from when an equity curve reaches a new high. It’s the maximum an account lost during that retrenchment. This method is applied because a valley can’t be measured until a new high occurs. Once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the bottom of the largest trough is recorded.'

• The maximum days under water over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 516 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 516 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (488 days).

AveDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Avg Drawdown Duration is the average amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs), or in other terms the average of time under water of all drawdowns. So in contrast to the Maximum duration it does not measure only one drawdown event but calculates the average of all.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (122 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 131 days of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 192 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (177 days).