iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund (EPP)

TotalReturn:

'Total return is the amount of value an investor earns from a security over a specific period, typically one year, when all distributions are reinvested. Total return is expressed as a percentage of the amount invested. For example, a total return of 20% means the security increased by 20% of its original value due to a price increase, distribution of dividends (if a stock), coupons (if a bond) or capital gains (if a fund). Total return is a strong measure of an investment’s overall performance.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (81.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 37% of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 59%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 77.6% 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.'

• Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of 6.5% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.7%)
• Compared with SPY (21.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8% is lower, thus worse.

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 17.5% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.2%)
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 16.7%, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 15.3% 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.'

• Looking at the downside deviation of 12.1% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (11.9%)
• Looking at downside deviation in of 11.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (10.3%).

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 ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.23 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.6)
• Looking at ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) in of 0.86 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.22).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.86) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.33 of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of 1.26 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.83).

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 Ulcer Index over 5 years of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is 8.73 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 4.08 , which is greater, thus worse than the value of 3.36 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -24.2 days of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is larger, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -19.3 days is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the maximum days below previous high of 599 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Compared with SPY (87 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 160 days is greater, 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.'

• The average days under water over 5 years of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is 172 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (118 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark is 38 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 17 days from the benchmark.