iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF (HEWC)

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 (109.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 48.1% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (70.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of 30.5% is lower, thus worse.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a useful measure of growth over multiple time periods. It can be thought of as the growth rate that gets you from the initial investment value to the ending investment value if you assume that the investment has been compounding over the time period.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (16%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of 9.3% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (19.5%).

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.'

• The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is 17.8%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.5%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (17.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 12.9% is lower, thus better.

DownVol:

'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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of 13.1% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 9.1%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 11.5% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.32 in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.77)
• Compared with SPY (0.97) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.53 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (1.12) in the period of the last 5 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.44 of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is 0.75, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.47 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 7.07 in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.48 )
• Looking at Ulcer Index in of 5.98 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (5.3 ).

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 DrawDown of -34.9 days in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -16.2 days, which is larger, thus better than the value of -18.8 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 (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 408 days of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (199 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 408 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 102 days of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (47 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 131 days is larger, thus worse.