iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF (EWT)

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 54.3% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (67.1%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 68.5%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 61.5% 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 9.1% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (10.8%)
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 19%, which is higher, thus better than the value of 17.3% 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.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 22% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (21.4%)
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 21.3%, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 20% from the benchmark.

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 deviation of 16.1% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15.4%)
• Looking at downside deviation in of 14.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (13.9%).

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.'

• The Sharpe Ratio over 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF is 0.3, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.39) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is 0.77, which is greater, thus better than the value of 0.74 from the benchmark.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio improves upon the Sharpe ratio by isolating downside volatility from total volatility by dividing excess return by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that differentiates harmful volatility from total overall volatility by using the asset's standard deviation of negative asset returns, called downside deviation. The Sortino ratio takes the asset's return and subtracts the risk-free rate, and then divides that amount by the asset's downside deviation. The ratio was named after Frank A. Sortino.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF is 0.41, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.54) in the same period.
• Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of 1.12 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (1.06).

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 Downside risk index of 13 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.21 )
• Looking at Ulcer Ratio in of 15 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (9.87 ).

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• The maximum drop from peak to valley over 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF is -38.9 days, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -38.9 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -24.5 days from the benchmark.

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). Many assume Max DD Duration is the length of time between new highs during which the Max DD (magnitude) occurred. But that isn’t always the case. The Max DD duration is the longest time between peaks, period. So it could be the time when the program also had its biggest peak to valley loss (and usually is, because the program needs a long time to recover from the largest loss), but it doesn’t have to be'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (311 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 339 days of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 310 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 311 days from the benchmark.

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 104 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (66 days)
• Looking at average time in days below previous high water mark in of 83 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (82 days).