iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund (EWC)

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 76.2% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (79.5%)
• Compared with SPY (69.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value of 73.8% is larger, thus better.

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.'

• The annual return (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is 12.1%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 20.3%, which is larger, thus better than the value of 19.3% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 17.2% of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (15.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 15.1% is lower, thus better.

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 (11.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 11.9% of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 10.3%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 10.3% from the benchmark.

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 (0.58) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.56 of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (1.1) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 1.18 is higher, thus better.

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.'

• Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.8 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.84)
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is 1.72, which is higher, thus better than the value of 1.63 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the Downside risk index of 8.72 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.46 )
• Looking at Ulcer Index in of 3.35 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -24.8 days of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -13 days, which is higher, thus better than the value of -18.8 days from the benchmark.

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'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 572 days of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 99 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 87 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.'

• The average days below previous high over 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is 155 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the same period.
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 22 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (21 days).