First Trust Water ETF (FIW)

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 (94.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 72.3% of First Trust Water ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 33.2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (43.6%).

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 11.5% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (14.3%)
• Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of 10.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (12.9%).

Volatility:

'Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. Volatility can either be measured by using the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security. In the securities markets, volatility is often associated with big swings in either direction. For example, when the stock market rises and falls more than one percent over a sustained period of time, it is called a 'volatile' market.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (21%) in the period of the last 5 years, the volatility of 23.5% of First Trust Water ETF is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 19%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 17.2% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

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

• Looking at the downside risk of 16.6% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15%)
• Compared with SPY (12%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 13% 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.'

• The ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 0.38, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.56) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio is 0.4, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.6 from the benchmark.

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 ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 0.54, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.79) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 0.59, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.87 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (9.33 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 11 of First Trust Water ETF is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (8.6 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 6.47 is lower, thus better.

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.'

• Looking at the maximum drop from peak to valley of -36.6 days in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
• Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -20.9 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (-22.1 days).

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 (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 518 days of First Trust Water ETF is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 208 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 325 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.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 134 days in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (121 days)
• Compared with SPY (89 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 51 days is lower, thus better.