iShares MSCI France Index Fund (EWQ)

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.'

• The total return, or performance over 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is 28.6%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (83%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 31.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 81.5% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of 5.2% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.9%)
• During the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) is 9.5%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 22.1% 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 (17.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 19.8% of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 17.3%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 15.3% from the benchmark.

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.'

• The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is 13.6%, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (10.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 11.8% 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.'

• Looking at the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.14 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.61)
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.4, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 1.28 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.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is 0.2, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.88) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 0.59, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.93 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 Ulcer Ratio of 9.63 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.45 )
• Compared with SPY (3.22 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 5.72 is larger, thus worse.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown is defined as the peak-to-trough decline of an investment during a specific period. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak value. The maximum drawdown can be calculated based on absolute returns, in order to identify strategies that suffer less during market downturns, such as low-volatility strategies. However, the maximum drawdown can also be calculated based on returns relative to a benchmark index, for identifying strategies that show steady outperformance over time.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -31.5 days of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -15.2 days is greater, thus better.

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.'

• The maximum time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is 311 days, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 199 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (87 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 75 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (118 days)
• Compared with SPY (17 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 47 days is larger, thus worse.