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.'

• Looking at the total return of 105.3% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (107.6%)
• Compared with SPY (48.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value of 44.2% 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.'

• Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of 15.5% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15.8%)
• Compared with SPY (14%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 13% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the volatility of 19.4% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.9%)
• Looking at volatility in of 19.2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (18.3%).

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.'

• Looking at the downside volatility of 13.2% in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.5%)
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 12.9%, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 12.4% from the benchmark.

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.'

• The risk / return profile (Sharpe) over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 0.67, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.74) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.63) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.55 is lower, thus worse.

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 (1.06) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.99 of First Trust Water ETF is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 0.82, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.93 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 9.4 in the last 5 years of First Trust Water ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.48 )
• Compared with SPY (5.54 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 5.86 is greater, thus worse.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• The maximum drop from peak to valley over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is -28.5 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -18.3 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to SPY (-18.8 days).

MaxDuration:

'The Drawdown Duration is the length of any peak to peak period, or the time between new equity highs. The Max Drawdown Duration is the worst (the maximum/longest) amount of time an investment has seen between peaks (equity highs) in days.'

• The maximum time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of First Trust Water ETF is 518 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 125 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (199 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 131 days of First Trust Water ETF is larger, thus worse.
• Looking at average days under water in of 39 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (45 days).