Description

The investment seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI China Index. The fund generally will invest at least 90% of its assets in the component securities of the underlying index and in investments that have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the component securities of the underlying index. The index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index designed to measure the performance of equity securities in the top 85% in market capitalization of the Chinese equity securities markets, as represented by the H-shares and B-shares markets. The fund is non-diversified.

Statistics (YTD)

What do these metrics mean? [Read More] [Hide]

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the total return, or performance of -31.9% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI China ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (67.9%)
  • Looking at total return, or increase in value in of -25.6% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (44.5%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (10.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual return (CAGR) of -7.4% of iShares MSCI China ETF is lower, thus worse.
  • Looking at annual return (CAGR) in of -9.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (13.1%).

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the 30 days standard deviation of 30.3% in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI China ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (21.4%)
  • Compared with SPY (18.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 32.4% 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares MSCI China ETF is 20.7%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.4%) in the same period.
  • Looking at downside deviation in of 21.3% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (13.3%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.39) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of -0.33 of iShares MSCI China ETF is lower, thus worse.
  • Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of -0.37 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.56).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of -0.48 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI China ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.55)
  • During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is -0.56, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.79 from the benchmark.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the Ulcer Index of 29 in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI China ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.47 )
  • Looking at Ulcer Index in of 35 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (10 ).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -62.8 days of iShares MSCI China ETF is smaller, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -62.8 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -24.5 days from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 576 days in the last 5 years of iShares MSCI China ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (354 days)
  • Compared with SPY (354 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days under water of 576 days is larger, 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The average days below previous high over 5 years of iShares MSCI China ETF is 248 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (79 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at average time in days below previous high water mark in of 233 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (102 days).

Performance (YTD)

Historical returns have been extended using synthetic data.

Allocations ()

Allocations

Returns (%)

  • Note that yearly returns do not equal the sum of monthly returns due to compounding.
  • Performance results of iShares MSCI China ETF are hypothetical, do not account for slippage, fees or taxes, and are based on backtesting, which has many inherent limitations, some of which are described in our Terms of Use.