iShares MSCI France Index Fund (EWQ)

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.'

• The total return, or performance over 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is 69.4%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (120.8%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (66.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of 22.2% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.1% of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 6.9%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 18.5% 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 volatility of 21.7% of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at volatility in of 24.6% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (22.4%).

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 (13.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 16.4% of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (16.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 18.6% is higher, thus worse.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio was developed by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, and is used to help investors understand the return of an investment compared to its risk. The ratio is the average return earned in excess of the risk-free rate per unit of volatility or total risk. Subtracting the risk-free rate from the mean return allows an investor to better isolate the profits associated with risk-taking activities. One intuition of this calculation is that a portfolio engaging in 'zero risk' investments, such as the purchase of U.S. Treasury bills (for which the expected return is the risk-free rate), has a Sharpe ratio of exactly zero. Generally, the greater the value of the Sharpe ratio, the more attractive the risk-adjusted return.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.78) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.4 of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at risk / return profile (Sharpe) in of 0.18 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.71).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (1.08) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.53 of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.98) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.24 is smaller, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Index of 9.53 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 (5.59 )
• Compared with SPY (6.83 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 11 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.'

• The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is -39.2 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of -39.2 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-33.7 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.'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is 473 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (139 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (139 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days under water of 362 days is higher, thus worse.

AveDuration:

'The Average 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. 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (33 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 127 days of iShares MSCI France Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 127 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 35 days from the benchmark.