Description

The investment seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI Frontier Markets 100 Index. The fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of the underlying index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the underlying index. The index is designed to measure equity market performance of frontier markets while putting stronger emphasis on tradability compared to the MSCI Frontier Markets IMI (the parent index).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (107.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 6.3% of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund is lower, thus worse.
  • Looking at total return in of -12.2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (33.8%).

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate isn't a true return rate, but rather a representational figure. It is essentially a number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it had grown the same rate every year and the profits were reinvested at the end of each year. In reality, this sort of performance is unlikely. However, CAGR can be used to smooth returns so that they may be more easily understood when compared to alternative investments.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.2% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15.8%)
  • Looking at annual return (CAGR) in of -4.3% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (10.2%).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the volatility of 16.8% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (20.9%)
  • Compared with SPY (17.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 12.4% is smaller, thus better.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the downside risk of 13.2% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (14.9%)
  • Compared with SPY (12.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 9.3% is lower, thus better.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the Sharpe Ratio of -0.07 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.63)
  • During the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio is -0.55, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.44 from the benchmark.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund is -0.1, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.89) in the same period.
  • Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of -0.73 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.63).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the Downside risk index of 19 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.32 )
  • During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 20 , which is greater, thus worse than the value of 10 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the maximum reduction from previous high of -37.1 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
  • Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of -32.5 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-24.5 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 773 days of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund is higher, thus worse.
  • Compared with SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 731 days is greater, thus worse.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the average time in days below previous high water mark of 290 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (123 days)
  • Looking at average days under water in of 358 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (178 days).

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 iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Fund are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.