VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN (UGLD)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (91.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of 120.4% of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is larger, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (28.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 0% is smaller, thus worse.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate isn't a true return rate, but rather a representational figure. It is essentially a number that describes the rate at which an investment would have grown if it had grown the same rate every year and the profits were reinvested at the end of each year. In reality, this sort of performance is unlikely. However, CAGR can be used to smooth returns so that they may be more easily understood when compared to alternative investments.'

• Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of 17.1% 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 (13.9%)
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 0%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 8.8% 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 (21%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 25.5% of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is higher, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (17.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 0% 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%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of 16.4% of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is larger, thus worse.
• Looking at downside deviation in of 0% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (12.1%).

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.'

• Looking at the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.57 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 (0.54)
• Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of 0 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.36).

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.'

• Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.89 in the last 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.76)
• Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of 0 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.52).

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (9.33 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 5.1 of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is lower, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 0 , which is lower, thus better than the value of 10 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

• The maximum drop from peak to valley over 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is -34.3 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of 0 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to SPY (-24.5 days).

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'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 968 days of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 0 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 488 days from the benchmark.

AveDuration:

'The Average 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. 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 391 days in the last 5 years of VelocityShares 3x Long Gold ETN, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (122 days)
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 0 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 179 days from the benchmark.