Description

The investment seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI ACWI Minimum Volatility (USD) Index. The fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of the underlying index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the underlying index. The index measures the combined performance of equity securities in both developed and emerging markets that, in the aggregate, have lower volatility relative to the large- and mid-cap developed and emerging markets.

Statistics (YTD)

What do these metrics mean? [Read More] [Hide]

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (113.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 48.7% of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is lower, thus worse.
  • Compared with SPY (67.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 32.4% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of 8.3% in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (16.4%)
  • Compared with SPY (18.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 9.9% is smaller, 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 10.6% 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 (17.5%)
  • Compared with SPY (17.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 10.4% is smaller, thus better.

DownVol:

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

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 7.5% of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is smaller, thus better.
  • During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 7.1%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 11.6% from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.55 in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.79)
  • Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of 0.71 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.94).

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.78 in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1.15)
  • Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 1.03 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.42).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the Ulcer Index of 5.91 in the last 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.48 )
  • During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 3.18 , which is smaller, thus better than the value of 5.31 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -18.1 days of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is higher, thus better.
  • Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -12.2 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The maximum time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is 536 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (199 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 164 days is lower, thus better.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The average days below previous high over 5 years of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF is 134 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at average days under water in of 35 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (47 days).

Performance (YTD)

Historical returns have been extended using synthetic data.

Allocations ()

Allocations

Returns (%)

  • Note that yearly returns do not equal the sum of monthly returns due to compounding.
  • Performance results of iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.