iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT)

TotalReturn:

'The total return on a portfolio of investments takes into account not only the capital appreciation on the portfolio, but also the income received on the portfolio. The income typically consists of interest, dividends, and securities lending fees. This contrasts with the price return, which takes into account only the capital gain on an investment.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (67.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 48% of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at total return, or performance in of 33.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (38.6%).

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 (10.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 8.2% of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at annual return (CAGR) in of 10.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (11.5%).

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 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is 14.1%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (18.7%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (21.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 14.8% is smaller, thus better.

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.'

• The downside risk over 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is 9.7%, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (13.6%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside volatility in of 9.9% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (15.7%).

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 (0.45) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.4 of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.51, which is larger, thus better than the value of 0.42 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.58 in the last 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.62)
• Compared with SPY (0.57) in the period of the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.77 is higher, thus better.

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 (5.82 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 9.11 of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (6.87 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 4.62 is smaller, 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -17.9 days of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is larger, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -15.7 days is higher, thus better.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (187 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 749 days of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (139 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days under water of 385 days is greater, 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.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 248 days in the last 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (43 days)
• Compared with SPY (39 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 119 days is greater, thus worse.