iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF (EWU)

TotalReturn:

'The total return on a portfolio of investments takes into account not only the capital appreciation on the portfolio, but also the income received on the portfolio. The income typically consists of interest, dividends, and securities lending fees. This contrasts with the price return, which takes into account only the capital gain on an investment.'

• The total return over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is -4.5%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (91.2%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (41.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of -16% is lower, 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.'

• Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of -0.9% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (13.8%)
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is -5.7%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 12.3% 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.'

• The volatility over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is 21.2%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (18.8%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (22.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 23% is higher, thus worse.

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 (13.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of 16.2% of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside deviation is 17.7%, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 16.5% 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 Sharpe Ratio of -0.16 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.6)
• Compared with SPY (0.44) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of -0.35 is lower, thus worse.

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 excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is -0.21, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.83) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is -0.46, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.59 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Index of 12 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (5.79 )
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 14 , which is larger, thus worse than the value of 7.09 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown is defined as the peak-to-trough decline of an investment during a specific period. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak value. The maximum drawdown can be calculated based on absolute returns, in order to identify strategies that suffer less during market downturns, such as low-volatility strategies. However, the maximum drawdown can also be calculated based on returns relative to a benchmark index, for identifying strategies that show steady outperformance over time.'

• The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is -43.3 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 -43.3 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, 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). 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'

• The maximum time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is 672 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (139 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high is 672 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 139 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (37 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 250 days of iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 311 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (45 days).