iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (57.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of -17.5% of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (32%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of -44.2% 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 (9.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual return (CAGR) of -3.8% of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) is -17.7%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 9.7% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (21.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 17.1% of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (17.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 17% is lower, thus better.

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 (15.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside volatility of 12% of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 12.5% is greater, thus worse.

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.'

• The risk / return profile (Sharpe) over 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is -0.37, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.32) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is -1.19, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 0.41 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.45) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of -0.52 of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of -1.62 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.58).

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 (9.57 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 21 of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 24 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.'

• The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is -46.9 days, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -44.2 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 below previous high of 796 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 (439 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 754 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 439 days from the benchmark.

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 below previous high of 275 days in the last 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (106 days)
• Compared with SPY (149 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 378 days is larger, thus worse.