First Trust Water ETF (FIW)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (78.4%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 83.8% of First Trust Water ETF is higher, thus better.
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 49.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (44.1%).

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 12.9% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.3%)
• Compared with SPY (12.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4% is higher, thus better.

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 (19.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the volatility of 21.9% of First Trust Water ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (23.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 25.5% is greater, thus worse.

DownVol:

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

• Looking at the downside volatility of 15.8% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (14.6%)
• Compared with SPY (16.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 18.3% 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.'

• The Sharpe Ratio over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 0.48, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.49) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.45) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.46 is higher, thus better.

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.'

• The downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 0.66, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.67) in the same period.
• Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of 0.65 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to SPY (0.62).

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 7.62 , which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (6.16 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 8.95 , which is greater, thus worse than the value of 6.87 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 First Trust Water ETF is -36.6 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -36.6 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -33.7 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (139 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 161 days of First Trust Water ETF is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 161 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 119 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.'

• The average days below previous high over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 36 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (35 days) in the same period.
• Looking at average days under water in of 37 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (27 days).