iShares MSCI Belgium ETF (EWK)

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, or increase in value of 6.7% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (88.5%)
• Compared with SPY (26.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value of -6.1% is smaller, thus worse.

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.'

• The annual return (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF is 1.3%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.5%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is -2.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 8.3% 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 (20.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 22.2% of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (17.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 18.7% is greater, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the downside volatility of 16.3% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15%)
• Compared with SPY (12.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 13.1% is larger, 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 (0.53) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of -0.05 of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is -0.24, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.33 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of -0.07 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.74)
• Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of -0.35 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.47).

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.'

• The Downside risk index over 5 years of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF is 15 , which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (9.33 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 16 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 drop from peak to valley of -38.2 days of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -35.2 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 712 days of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 712 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (488 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.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 238 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Belgium ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (123 days)
• Compared with SPY (179 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days under water of 347 days is greater, thus worse.