iShares Silver Trust (SLV)

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 109.7% in the last 5 years of iShares Silver Trust, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (67.8%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 122.3%, which is larger, thus better than the value of 75% 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 (11%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 16% of iShares Silver Trust is larger, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 30.7%, which is larger, thus better than the value of 20.6% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the volatility of 37.7% of iShares Silver Trust is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (15.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 43.4% is higher, thus worse.

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 27.7% of iShares Silver Trust is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at downside volatility in of 32.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (10.4%).

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 (0.49) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.36 of iShares Silver Trust is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at risk / return profile (Sharpe) in of 0.65 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.17).

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.'

• The excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of iShares Silver Trust is 0.49, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.7) in the same period.
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 0.87 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.73).

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 Ulcer Ratio over 5 years of iShares Silver Trust is 20 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (3.21 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 22 is larger, thus worse.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -57.8 days of iShares Silver Trust is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -57.8 days is lower, thus worse.

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 days under water of 519 days in the last 5 years of iShares Silver Trust, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 196 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse 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 Silver Trust is 147 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (117 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 58 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 17 days from the benchmark.