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.'

• The total return, or performance over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is 69.2%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (121.2%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (67.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 39.7% 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 (17.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 14% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (18.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 12.7% 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.'

• The historical 30 days volatility over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is 18.3%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (18.7%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (22.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 20.5% is lower, thus better.

DownVol:

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

• The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is 13.4%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (13.6%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 15.2%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 16.3% 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 (0.79) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.63 of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.72) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.5 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.'

• Looking at the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.86 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 (1.08)
• Compared with SPY (1) in the period of the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.67 is lower, thus worse.

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 6.65 in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (5.59 )
• Compared with SPY (6.83 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 7.7 is higher, 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.'

• Looking at the maximum drop from peak to valley of -34.9 days in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
• Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of -34.9 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-33.7 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.'

• Looking at the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 194 days in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (139 days)
• Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 194 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (139 days).

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.'

• Looking at the average time in days below previous high water mark of 51 days in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Canada ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (33 days)
• Looking at average days under water in of 59 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (35 days).