iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund (EWA)

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.'

• Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 32.7% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (80.1%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 9.6%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 30.8% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 5.8% of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 3.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 9.4% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the volatility of 27% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (21.3%)
• Looking at 30 days standard deviation in of 20% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (17.6%).

DownVol:

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

• The downside risk over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 19.5%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.3%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside volatility in of 14% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (12.3%).

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.'

• Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.12 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.47)
• Compared with SPY (0.39) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.03 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.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 0.17, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.66) in the same period.
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 0.04 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.56).

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 (9.43 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 11 of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 10 , which is greater, thus worse than the value of 10 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.'

• The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is -45.5 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -24.9 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-24.5 days).

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.'

• The maximum days under water over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 415 days, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (478 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (478 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 415 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.'

• Looking at the average days below previous high of 114 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (118 days)
• Compared with SPY (173 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 149 days is lower, thus better.