iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF (ACWV)

TotalReturn:

'The total return on a portfolio of investments takes into account not only the capital appreciation on the portfolio, but also the income received on the portfolio. The income typically consists of interest, dividends, and securities lending fees. This contrasts with the price return, which takes into account only the capital gain on an investment.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (97.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of 37.5% of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 31.8%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 80.6% from the benchmark.

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 performance (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is 6.6%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (14.6%) in the same period.
• Looking at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in of 9.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (21.8%).

Volatility:

'Volatility is a rate at which the price of a security increases or decreases for a given set of returns. Volatility is measured by calculating the standard deviation of the annualized returns over a given period of time. It shows the range to which the price of a security may increase or decrease. Volatility measures the risk of a security. It is used in option pricing formula to gauge the fluctuations in the returns of the underlying assets. Volatility indicates the pricing behavior of the security and helps estimate the fluctuations that may happen in a short period of time.'

• Looking at the 30 days standard deviation of 10.3% in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.1%)
• Compared with SPY (15.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 8.9% is lower, thus better.

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 (11.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 7.3% of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (10.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 6.3% is lower, thus better.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio (also known as the Sharpe index, the Sharpe measure, and the reward-to-variability ratio) is a way to examine the performance of an investment by adjusting for its risk. The ratio measures the excess return (or risk premium) per unit of deviation in an investment asset or a trading strategy, typically referred to as risk, named after William F. Sharpe.'

• Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.4 in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.71)
• Compared with SPY (1.27) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.8 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.'

• The downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is 0.56, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (1.03) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (1.9) in the period of the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 1.14 is smaller, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• Looking at the Downside risk index of 5.9 in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.42 )
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 2.01 , which is smaller, thus better than the value of 3.51 from the benchmark.

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.'

• The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is -18.1 days, which is larger, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -7.6 days is larger, thus better.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 536 days of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (87 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 97 days is larger, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the average time in days below previous high water mark of 134 days in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (120 days)
• Compared with SPY (21 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 20 days is lower, thus better.