iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund (EWC)

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.'

• Looking at the total return of 66.2% 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 (121.2%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 36.7%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 67.5% 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 (17.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.7% of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 11%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 18.7% from the benchmark.

Volatility:

'Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. Volatility can either be measured by using the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security. In the securities markets, volatility is often associated with big swings in either direction. For example, when the stock market rises and falls more than one percent over a sustained period of time, it is called a 'volatile' market.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (18.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 20.2% of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (22.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 23.8% is higher, thus worse.

DownVol:

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

• The downside volatility over 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is 15%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.6%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside volatility in of 17.8% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (16.3%).

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 risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.41 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 (0.79)
• Compared with SPY (0.72) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.36 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 downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is 0.55, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (1.08) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (1) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.48 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (5.59 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 8.24 of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (6.83 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 9.44 is larger, thus worse.

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.'

• The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is -42.7 days, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -42.7 days is lower, thus worse.

MaxDuration:

'The Maximum Drawdown Duration is an extension of the Maximum Drawdown. However, this metric does not explain the drawdown in dollars or percentages, rather in days, weeks, or months. It is the length of time the account was in the Max Drawdown. A Max Drawdown measures a retrenchment from when an equity curve reaches a new high. It’s the maximum an account lost during that retrenchment. This method is applied because a valley can’t be measured until a new high occurs. Once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the bottom of the largest trough is recorded.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (139 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 450 days of iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 218 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (139 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 Canada Index Fund is 116 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (33 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (35 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days under water of 69 days is higher, thus worse.