iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY)

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, or performance over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is 12.2%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (80%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is -14.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 31.8% 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.'

• The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is 2.3%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (9.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of -4.9% is smaller, thus worse.

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 (21.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 27.4% of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (17.6%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 24.2% is greater, thus worse.

DownVol:

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

• The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is 19.6%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.3%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (12.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 16.9% is greater, thus worse.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio is the measure of risk-adjusted return of a financial portfolio. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess portfolio return over the risk-free rate relative to its standard deviation. Normally, the 90-day Treasury bill rate is taken as the proxy for risk-free rate. A portfolio with a higher Sharpe ratio is considered superior relative to its peers. The measure was named after William F Sharpe, a Nobel laureate and professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University.'

• Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.01 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.47)
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is -0.31, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 0.41 from the benchmark.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio, a variation of the Sharpe ratio only factors in the downside, or negative volatility, rather than the total volatility used in calculating the Sharpe ratio. The theory behind the Sortino variation is that upside volatility is a plus for the investment, and it, therefore, should not be included in the risk calculation. Therefore, the Sortino ratio takes upside volatility out of the equation and uses only the downside standard deviation in its calculation instead of the total standard deviation that is used in calculating the Sharpe ratio.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.66) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of -0.01 of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation is -0.44, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 0.58 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 Downside risk index of 23 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.43 )
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 28 is larger, thus worse.

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.'

• The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is -49.7 days, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -49.7 days is lower, thus worse.

MaxDuration:

'The Maximum 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. It is the length of time the account was in the Max Drawdown. A Max Drawdown measures a retrenchment from when an equity curve reaches a new high. It’s the maximum an account lost during that retrenchment. This method is applied because a valley can’t be measured until a new high occurs. Once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the bottom of the largest trough is recorded.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (480 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 728 days of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum days under water in of 728 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (480 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 South Korea ETF is 250 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 358 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 174 days from the benchmark.