Description

The investment seeks to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the MVIS® GDP Africa Index. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that comprise the fund's benchmark index. The index includes local listings of companies that are incorporated in Africa and listings of companies incorporated outside of Africa but that have at least 50% of their revenues/related assets in Africa.

Statistics (YTD)

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

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (73.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of 34.6% of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is smaller, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 102.9%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 78.2% from the benchmark.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate isn't a true return rate, but rather a representational figure. It is essentially a number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it had grown the same rate every year and the profits were reinvested at the end of each year. In reality, this sort of performance is unlikely. However, CAGR can be used to smooth returns so that they may be more easily understood when compared to alternative investments.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is 6.2%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (11.7%) in the same period.
  • Looking at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in of 26.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (21.3%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is 23%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.3%) in the same period.
  • Looking at historical 30 days volatility in of 24.3% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (15.5%).

DownVol:

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

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The downside volatility over 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is 16.3%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12%) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (10.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk of 16.9% is greater, thus worse.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.53) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.16 of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is smaller, thus worse.
  • Compared with SPY (1.22) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 1 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.77) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.22 of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is lower, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 1.43, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.8 from the benchmark.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (8.46 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 20 of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is higher, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 6.82 , which is greater, thus worse than the value of 3.22 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the maximum DrawDown of -37.6 days in the last 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley is -19.5 days, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of -18.8 days from the benchmark.

MaxDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Max Drawdown Duration is the worst (the maximum/longest) amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs) in days.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 812 days of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is larger, thus worse.
  • Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 179 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (87 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (117 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 294 days of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is greater, thus worse.
  • Looking at average days under water in of 43 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (17 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 VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.