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, or performance of 0.5% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (68.2%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 15.4%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 47.7% 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 (11%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.1% of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (13.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 4.9% is lower, thus worse.

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 (13.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 17.5% of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• Looking at volatility in of 16.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (12.4%).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (14.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 18.6% of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside deviation is 18.6%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 14% from the benchmark.

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.'

• The ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) over 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is -0.14, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.64) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio is 0.15, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.92 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.'

• Looking at the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of -0.13 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.58)
• Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of 0.13 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.81).

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.'

• The Downside risk index over 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund is 13 , which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (3.95 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (4 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 11 is higher, thus better.

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 Germany Index Fund is -29.8 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-19.3 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-19.3 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -29.8 days is smaller, 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'

• Looking at the maximum days below previous high of 732 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Germany Index Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (187 days)
• Compared with SPY (131 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days under water of 291 days is higher, thus worse.

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 Germany Index Fund is 258 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (39 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 74 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 33 days from the benchmark.