iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY)

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 over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is 11.8%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (65.4%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 14.1%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 50.2% 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.'

• Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of 2.3% 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 (10.6%)
• Compared with SPY (14.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 4.5% 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.'

• The historical 30 days volatility over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is 19.9%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.5%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (12.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 19.4% is greater, thus worse.

DownVol:

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

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (14.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 20.8% of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (14.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 20.5% is larger, thus worse.

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 (0.6) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.01 of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of 0.1 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.94).

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.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is -0.01, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.55) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.82) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.1 is lower, thus worse.

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 (3.99 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 16 of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 16 , which is greater, thus worse than the value of 4.1 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 (-19.3 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -34.4 days of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -34.4 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -19.3 days from the benchmark.

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.'

• The maximum days under water over 5 years of iShares MSCI South Korea ETF is 476 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (187 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum days under water in of 467 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, 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 South Korea ETF is 189 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (42 days) in the same period.
• Looking at average days under water in of 162 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (36 days).