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 (96.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 39.1% of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is lower, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the total return is 63.9%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 83.7% 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The annual return (CAGR) over 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is 6.8%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (14.6%) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 18%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 22.6% from the benchmark.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is 20.7%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.1%) in the same period.
  • Looking at volatility in of 21.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (15.4%).

DownVol:

'Downside risk is the financial risk associated with losses. That is, it is the risk of the actual return being below the expected return, or the uncertainty about the magnitude of that difference. 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The downside deviation over 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is 14.7%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (10.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk of 14.9% is larger, thus worse.

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 Sharpe Ratio of 0.21 in the last 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.7)
  • Compared with SPY (1.31) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.73 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.3 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 (1.02)
  • Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of 1.04 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.97).

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 Downside risk index of 21 in the last 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.42 )
  • Looking at Ulcer Index in of 11 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (3.52 ).

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:
  • Looking at the maximum reduction from previous high of -38.6 days in the last 5 years of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley is -25.4 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -18.8 days from the benchmark.

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:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 1035 days of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is higher, 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 418 days is higher, 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 448 days of VanEck Vectors-Africa Index ETF is greater, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 142 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 21 days from the benchmark.

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.