Description

The investment seeks to maximize current income. The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets in a portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade fixed-income securities. Under normal circumstances, the effective duration of its portfolio is expected to be one year or less, as calculated by the management team. It is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index.

Statistics (YTD)

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

TotalReturn:

'Total return is the amount of value an investor earns from a security over a specific period, typically one year, when all distributions are reinvested. Total return is expressed as a percentage of the amount invested. For example, a total return of 20% means the security increased by 20% of its original value due to a price increase, distribution of dividends (if a stock), coupons (if a bond) or capital gains (if a fund). Total return is a strong measure of an investment’s overall performance.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The total return over 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is 21.4%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (81.9%) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 16.8%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 77.2% from the benchmark.

CAGR:

'Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a business and investing specific term for the geometric progression ratio that provides a constant rate of return over the time period. CAGR is not an accounting term, but it is often used to describe some element of the business, for example revenue, units delivered, registered users, etc. CAGR dampens the effect of volatility of periodic returns that can render arithmetic means irrelevant. It is particularly useful to compare growth rates from various data sets of common domain such as revenue growth of companies in the same industry.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is 4%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12.8%) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 5.3%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 21.1% from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 1.4% of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is smaller, thus better.
  • Compared with SPY (15.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 1.7% 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The downside deviation over 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is 0.9%, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
  • Looking at downside deviation in of 1.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (10.3%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 1.08 in the last 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.6)
  • Looking at ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) in of 1.68 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (1.21).

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is 1.69, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (0.87) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 2.63, which is larger, thus better than the value of 1.81 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (8.46 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 0.42 of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is lower, thus better.
  • During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 0.25 , which is smaller, thus better than the value of 3.37 from the benchmark.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the maximum drop from peak to valley of -1.3 days in the last 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
  • Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -1.2 days is larger, thus better.

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'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The maximum days under water over 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is 302 days, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 71 days, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 87 days from the benchmark.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The average days below previous high over 5 years of iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF is 60 days, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (118 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at average days below previous high in of 13 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (18 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 Short Maturity Bond ETF are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.