VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN (UGLD)

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 (68.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of 90.5% of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is larger, thus better.
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 10% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (47%).

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.'

• Looking at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8% in the last 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (11%)
• Compared with SPY (13.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 3.2% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (21.4%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 28.3% of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 8.3%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 18.7% from the benchmark.

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 (15.4%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 18.6% of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside deviation is 5.8%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 13.3% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.4 in the last 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.4)
• Compared with SPY (0.6) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.09 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is 0.61, which is greater, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (0.55) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.84) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.13 is smaller, thus worse.

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.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is 8.92 , which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (9.45 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 1.8 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -34.3 days of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -11 days, which is higher, thus better than the value of -24.5 days from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the maximum days below previous high of 732 days in the last 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (351 days)
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 732 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (351 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (78 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 241 days of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark is 359 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 101 days from the benchmark.