iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)

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.'

• Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 8.1% in the last 5 years of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (98.9%)
• Compared with SPY (78.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value of 13.4% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (14.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 1.6% of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (21.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% is smaller, 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 volatility over 5 years of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is 1.9%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (17.1%) in the same period.
• Looking at 30 days standard deviation in of 2.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (15.5%).

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 (11.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside volatility of 1.3% of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is smaller, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 1.2%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 10.4% 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 (0.72) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of -0.48 of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) in of 0.87 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.22).

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 (1.04) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of -0.74 of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 1.47 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.83).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (8.42 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 2.29 of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (3.57 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 0.5 is lower, thus better.

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.'

• The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is -5.7 days, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -1.6 days is greater, 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) in days.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 712 days of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (87 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 126 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 229 days of iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (21 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 26 days is higher, thus worse.