Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund (VTIP)

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.'

• Looking at the total return of 20.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (112.6%)
• Looking at total return in of 10.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (56.3%).

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 (16.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9% of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of 3.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (16.1%).

Volatility:

'Volatility is a rate at which the price of a security increases or decreases for a given set of returns. Volatility is measured by calculating the standard deviation of the annualized returns over a given period of time. It shows the range to which the price of a security may increase or decrease. Volatility measures the risk of a security. It is used in option pricing formula to gauge the fluctuations in the returns of the underlying assets. Volatility indicates the pricing behavior of the security and helps estimate the fluctuations that may happen in a short period of time.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 2.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.9%)
• Compared with SPY (18.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 3% is lower, 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 Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is 1.9%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (12.4%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 2%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 12.2% from the benchmark.

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 ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.49 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.77)
• Compared with SPY (0.75) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.32 is smaller, 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 downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is 0.73, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (1.11) in the same period.
• Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of 0.49 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.12).

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 (8.49 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 1.74 of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is smaller, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 1.49 , which is lower, thus better than the value of 5.54 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -5.5 days of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is greater, thus better.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -4.5 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to SPY (-18.8 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 441 days of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is smaller, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (199 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 376 days is larger, 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 time in days below previous high water mark of 103 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (119 days)
• Compared with SPY (45 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 115 days is higher, thus worse.