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 of 89.9% 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 (109.8%)
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 38.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (42.5%).

CAGR:

'Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a business and investing specific term for the geometric progression ratio that provides a constant rate of return over the time period. CAGR is not an accounting term, but it is often used to describe some element of the business, for example revenue, units delivered, registered users, etc. CAGR dampens the effect of volatility of periodic returns that can render arithmetic means irrelevant. It is particularly useful to compare growth rates from various data sets of common domain such as revenue growth of companies in the same industry.'

• The annual return (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 13.7%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (16%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 11.4%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 12.6% from the benchmark.

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.'

• The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 16.8%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (17.9%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 17%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 18.4% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

'Risk measures typically quantify the downside risk, whereas the standard deviation (an example of a deviation risk measure) measures both the upside and downside risk. Specifically, downside risk in our definition is the semi-deviation, that is the standard deviation of all negative returns.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 11.6% of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (12.6%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 11.6% is smaller, thus better.

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 0.67 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 (0.75)
• Compared with SPY (0.55) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.52 is lower, thus worse.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio measures the risk-adjusted return of an investment asset, portfolio, or strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe ratio but penalizes only those returns falling below a user-specified target or required rate of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes both upside and downside volatility equally. Though both ratios measure an investment's risk-adjusted return, they do so in significantly different ways that will frequently lead to differing conclusions as to the true nature of the investment's return-generating efficiency. The Sortino ratio is used as a way to compare the risk-adjusted performance of programs with differing risk and return profiles. In general, risk-adjusted returns seek to normalize the risk across programs and then see which has the higher return unit per risk.'

• Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.97 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 (1.08)
• Compared with SPY (0.8) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.77 is lower, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The Ulcer Index is a technical indicator that measures downside risk, in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines. The index increases in value as the price moves farther away from a recent high and falls as the price rises to new highs. The indicator is usually calculated over a 14-day period, with the Ulcer Index showing the percentage drawdown a trader can expect from the high over that period. The greater the value of the Ulcer Index, the longer it takes for a stock to get back to the former high.'

• The Downside risk index over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 8.9 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.48 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (5.54 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 5.02 is smaller, thus better.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -26.4 days of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -16.5 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to SPY (-18.8 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 time in days below previous high water mark 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.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 115 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 199 days from the benchmark.

AveDuration:

'The Average 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. 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.'

• The average days under water over 5 years of iShares MSCI ACWI Index Fund is 128 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark is 28 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 44 days from the benchmark.