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.'

• The total return, or performance over 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is -23.5%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (32.9%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (11.6%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of -19% is smaller, thus worse.

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 (5.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of -5.2% of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of -6.8% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (3.7%).

Volatility:

'Volatility is a rate at which the price of a security increases or decreases for a given set of returns. Volatility is measured by calculating the standard deviation of the annualized returns over a given period of time. It shows the range to which the price of a security may increase or decrease. Volatility measures the risk of a security. It is used in option pricing formula to gauge the fluctuations in the returns of the underlying assets. Volatility indicates the pricing behavior of the security and helps estimate the fluctuations that may happen in a short period of time.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (18%) in the period of the last 5 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 18.6% of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 19%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 20.3% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

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

• Looking at the downside risk of 14% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (13.4%)
• Compared with SPY (15.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 14.8% is lower, thus better.

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 (0.19) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of -0.42 of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.06) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of -0.49 is smaller, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.25) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of -0.55 of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of -0.63 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.08).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (5.17 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 15 of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 11 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 5.93 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 (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -40.8 days of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -40.8 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) in days.'

• Looking at the maximum days under water of 621 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (187 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 552 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 139 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (42 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 284 days of iShares MSCI Singapore ETF is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (36 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days under water of 219 days is greater, thus worse.