iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF (HEWJ)

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 over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF is 62.2%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (125.9%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (44.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 11.6% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• The annual performance (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF is 10.2%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.7%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 3.7%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 13% from the benchmark.

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 (18.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 21.7% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 22.7%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 22.8% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (13.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of 15.6% of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (16.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside volatility of 16.6% is lower, thus better.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio is the measure of risk-adjusted return of a financial portfolio. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess portfolio return over the risk-free rate relative to its standard deviation. Normally, the 90-day Treasury bill rate is taken as the proxy for risk-free rate. A portfolio with a higher Sharpe ratio is considered superior relative to its peers. The measure was named after William F Sharpe, a Nobel laureate and professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University.'

• Looking at the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.35 in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.81)
• Compared with SPY (0.46) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.05 is smaller, thus worse.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio measures the risk-adjusted return of an investment asset, portfolio, or strategy. It is a modification of the Sharpe ratio but penalizes only those returns falling below a user-specified target or required rate of return, while the Sharpe ratio penalizes both upside and downside volatility equally. Though both ratios measure an investment's risk-adjusted return, they do so in significantly different ways that will frequently lead to differing conclusions as to the true nature of the investment's return-generating efficiency. The Sortino ratio is used as a way to compare the risk-adjusted performance of programs with differing risk and return profiles. In general, risk-adjusted returns seek to normalize the risk across programs and then see which has the higher return unit per risk.'

• The downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF is 0.49, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (1.12) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is 0.07, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 0.63 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Index of 8.94 in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (5.59 )
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 10 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 7.14 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.'

• Looking at the maximum reduction from previous high of -31.5 days in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -31.5 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (-33.7 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.'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF is 512 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (139 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 512 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 139 days from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the average time in days below previous high water mark of 147 days in the last 5 years of iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (33 days)
• Compared with SPY (45 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 203 days is higher, thus worse.