iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund (EWG)

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 -0.4% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (60.6%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 1.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 38% 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.'

• The annual return (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is -0.1%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (10%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (11.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 0.4% is lower, 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (21.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 24.6% of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• Looking at volatility in of 22.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (17.9%).

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 (15.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside volatility of 18% of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 15.5% is greater, 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 (0.35) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of -0.11 of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of -0.1 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.49).

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio, a variation of the Sharpe ratio only factors in the downside, or negative volatility, rather than the total volatility used in calculating the Sharpe ratio. The theory behind the Sortino variation is that upside volatility is a plus for the investment, and it, therefore, should not be included in the risk calculation. Therefore, the Sortino ratio takes upside volatility out of the equation and uses only the downside standard deviation in its calculation instead of the total standard deviation that is used in calculating the Sharpe ratio.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is -0.14, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.48) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.71) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of -0.14 is lower, 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 (9.55 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 17 of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 19 is greater, 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -43.4 days of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of -43.4 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.'

• Looking at the maximum days under water of 577 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (431 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high is 577 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 431 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 time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is 189 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (105 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (144 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 234 days is larger, thus worse.