Description

The investment seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an equity index called the ISE Clean Edge Global Wind EnergyTM Index. The fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stocks and depositary receipts that comprise the index. The index provides a benchmark for investors interested in tracking public companies throughout the world that are active in the wind energy industry. In order to be eligible for inclusion in the index, a security must be issued by a company that is actively engaged in some aspect of the wind energy industry. The fund is non-diversified.

Statistics (YTD)

What do these metrics mean? [Read More] [Hide]

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The total return, or increase in value over 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is 41.5%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (102%) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (31.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of -16.2% 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is 7.2%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.1%) in the same period.
  • Looking at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in of -5.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (9.6%).

Volatility:

'Volatility is a rate at which the price of a security increases or decreases for a given set of returns. Volatility is measured by calculating the standard deviation of the annualized returns over a given period of time. It shows the range to which the price of a security may increase or decrease. Volatility measures the risk of a security. It is used in option pricing formula to gauge the fluctuations in the returns of the underlying assets. Volatility indicates the pricing behavior of the security and helps estimate the fluctuations that may happen in a short period of time.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is 24.6%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (20.9%) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (17.6%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 21.9% is greater, thus worse.

DownVol:

'Downside risk is the financial risk associated with losses. That is, it is the risk of the actual return being below the expected return, or the uncertainty about the magnitude of that difference. 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (14.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 17.3% of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is larger, thus worse.
  • Compared with SPY (12.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk of 15% is greater, thus worse.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio (also known as the Sharpe index, the Sharpe measure, and the reward-to-variability ratio) is a way to examine the performance of an investment by adjusting for its risk. The ratio measures the excess return (or risk premium) per unit of deviation in an investment asset or a trading strategy, typically referred to as risk, named after William F. Sharpe.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.19 in the last 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.6)
  • Compared with SPY (0.4) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.38 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.84) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.27 of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is smaller, thus worse.
  • Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of -0.55 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.57).

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The Downside risk index over 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is 26 , which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (9.32 ) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 22 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 10 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is -46.3 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 drop from peak to valley of -37.9 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF is 926 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 720 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 488 days from the benchmark.

AveDuration:

'The Average 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. 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the average days under water of 369 days in the last 5 years of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (123 days)
  • Compared with SPY (177 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 345 days is larger, thus worse.

Performance (YTD)

Historical returns have been extended using synthetic data.

Allocations ()

Allocations

Returns (%)

  • Note that yearly returns do not equal the sum of monthly returns due to compounding.
  • Performance results of First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.