iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF (HEWG)

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, or increase in value of 12% in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (101%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is -8.9%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 76% from the benchmark.

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 (15%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.4% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is higher, thus better.
• Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of -71% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (20.8%).

Volatility:

'In finance, volatility (symbol σ) is the degree of variation of a trading price series over time as measured by the standard deviation of logarithmic returns. Historic volatility measures a time series of past market prices. Implied volatility looks forward in time, being derived from the market price of a market-traded derivative (in particular, an option). Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 74.9% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (15.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 117.1% is larger, thus worse.

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.'

• The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is 53.7%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 89.2%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 10.5% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.73) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.63 of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is -0.63, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.17 from the benchmark.

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 (1.07) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.87 of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of -0.82 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.75).

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.'

• The Downside risk index over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is 9.17 , which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.42 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 16 , which is larger, thus worse than the value of 3.63 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

• The maximum drop from peak to valley over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is -26.3 days, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -26.3 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse 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). Many assume Max DD Duration is the length of time between new highs during which the Max DD (magnitude) occurred. But that isn’t always the case. The Max DD duration is the longest time between peaks, period. So it could be the time when the program also had its biggest peak to valley loss (and usually is, because the program needs a long time to recover from the largest loss), but it doesn’t have to be'

• Looking at the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 14 days in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 14 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (87 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.'

• The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF is 4 days, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (21 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days under water of 6 days is smaller, thus better.