iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF (EWU)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (74.4%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 20.4% of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (48.6%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 24.5% is lower, thus worse.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate isn't a true return rate, but rather a representational figure. It is essentially a number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it had grown the same rate every year and the profits were reinvested at the end of each year. In reality, this sort of performance is unlikely. However, CAGR can be used to smooth returns so that they may be more easily understood when compared to alternative investments.'

• Looking at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (11.8%)
• During the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) is 7.6%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 14.1% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (13.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 16.3% of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (12.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 12.1% is lower, thus better.

DownVol:

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

• The downside risk over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is 17.9%, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (14.8%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 13.3%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 14.6% from the benchmark.

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 risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.08 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.69)
• Compared with SPY (0.91) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.42 is lower, 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 (0.63) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.07 of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.79) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.38 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is 12 , which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (3.99 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 8.18 , which is greater, thus worse than the value of 4.09 from the benchmark.

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 DrawDown over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is -25.9 days, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-19.3 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -21.1 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-19.3 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 time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is 655 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (187 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 474 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (139 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.'

• The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is 269 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (42 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 166 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 36 days from the benchmark.