iShares MSCI Singapore ETF (EWS)

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 performance of 68.8% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (107.6%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 54.2%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 48.1% 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.'

• Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of 11.1% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15.8%)
• Compared with SPY (14%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6% is higher, thus better.

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.'

• The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is 18.1%, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.9%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 17.9%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 18.3% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 12.2% of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is smaller, thus better.
• Looking at downside risk in of 11.8% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (12.4%).

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.'

• Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.47 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.74)
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is 0.73, which is larger, thus better than the value of 0.63 from the benchmark.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio measures the risk-adjusted return of an investment asset, portfolio, or strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe ratio but penalizes only those returns falling below a user-specified target or required rate of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes both upside and downside volatility equally. Though both ratios measure an investment's risk-adjusted return, they do so in significantly different ways that will frequently lead to differing conclusions as to the true nature of the investment's return-generating efficiency. The Sortino ratio is used as a way to compare the risk-adjusted performance of programs with differing risk and return profiles. In general, risk-adjusted returns seek to normalize the risk across programs and then see which has the higher return unit per risk.'

• Looking at the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.7 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1.06)
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 1.11, which is larger, thus better than the value of 0.93 from the benchmark.

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 Ratio of 12 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.48 )
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 6.13 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 5.54 from the benchmark.

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 (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -29.1 days of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -17.2 days is greater, thus better.

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 710 days of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 198 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 199 days from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the average time in days below previous high water mark of 227 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (119 days)
• Compared with SPY (45 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 53 days is greater, thus worse.