iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund (EPP)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (78.4%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 24.7% of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (44.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of 10.6% is smaller, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5% 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 (12.3%)
• Compared with SPY (12.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% is smaller, 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 historical 30 days volatility of 20.9% 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 (19.9%)
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 24.8%, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 23.1% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (14.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside volatility of 15.4% of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (16.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 18.4% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.49) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.1 of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.45) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.04 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.'

• Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.13 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 (0.67)
• Compared with SPY (0.62) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.05 is smaller, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'Ulcer Index is a method for measuring investment risk that addresses the real concerns of investors, unlike the widely used standard deviation of return. UI is a measure of the depth and duration of drawdowns in prices from earlier highs. Using Ulcer Index instead of standard deviation can lead to very different conclusions about investment risk and risk-adjusted return, especially when evaluating strategies that seek to avoid major declines in portfolio value (market timing, dynamic asset allocation, hedge funds, etc.). The Ulcer Index was originally developed in 1987. Since then, it has been widely recognized and adopted by the investment community. According to Nelson Freeburg, editor of Formula Research, Ulcer Index is “perhaps the most fully realized statistical portrait of risk there is.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (6.16 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 9.19 of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (6.87 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 10 is larger, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the maximum drop from peak to valley of -39.3 days 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 (-33.7 days)
• Compared with SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -39.3 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (139 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 355 days of iShares MSCI Pacific Ex-Japan Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 243 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 119 days from the benchmark.

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 109 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 (35 days)
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 91 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 27 days from the benchmark.