First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources (FTRI)

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.'

• Looking at the total return of 50.7% in the last 5 years of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (63%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 44.7%, which is larger, thus better than the value of 33.5% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (10.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.8% of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of 13.2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (10.1%).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (21.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 26.1% of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (25.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 31.1% is higher, 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.'

• Looking at the downside deviation of 19% in the last 5 years of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15.6%)
• During the last 3 years, the downside deviation is 22.6%, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 18.1% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.36) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.24 of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.3) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.34 is larger, thus better.

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.'

• Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.33 in the last 5 years of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.5)
• Compared with SPY (0.42) in the period of the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.47 is larger, thus better.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (8.88 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 13 of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (11 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 14 is greater, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -43.9 days of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -41.4 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 (273 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 238 days of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources is smaller, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (273 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days under water of 205 days is lower, thus better.

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 (57 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 86 days of First Trust Indxx Global Natural Resources is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 81 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 73 days from the benchmark.