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 of 34.5% 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 (81.7%)
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 56.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (89.3%).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1% of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (23.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.2% 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.'

• The historical 30 days volatility over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 19.8%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.1%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 18.5%, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 15.2% 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.'

• The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 13.7%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (10.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 12.6% is higher, 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.6) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.18 of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.74, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 1.4 from the benchmark.

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.'

• The downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 0.27, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.87) in the same period.
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 1.09 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (2.11).

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 8.83 , which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (3.2 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 4.93 is greater, thus worse.

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 -24.9 days of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -21.9 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). Many assume Max DD Duration is the length of time between new highs during which the Max DD (magnitude) occurred. But that isn’t always the case. The Max DD duration is the longest time between peaks, period. So it could be the time when the program also had its biggest peak to valley loss (and usually is, because the program needs a long time to recover from the largest loss), but it doesn’t have to be'

• The maximum days under water over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 482 days, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 172 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, 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.'

• The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund is 122 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (118 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 38 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 17 days from the benchmark.