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, or increase in value of 17.3% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (88.5%)
• Compared with SPY (26.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 6.7% is lower, 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.'

• The compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is 3.2%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.5%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (8.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 2.2% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 3.5% 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 (20.9%)
• Compared with SPY (17.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 3.3% 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.'

• Looking at the downside volatility of 2.4% 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 (15%)
• Looking at downside risk in of 2.2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (12.1%).

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.'

• The Sharpe Ratio over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is 0.21, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.53) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.33) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of -0.09 is smaller, thus worse.

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 (0.74) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.31 of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is -0.14, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.47 from the benchmark.

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 (9.33 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 1.79 of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is lower, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 2.23 , 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.'

• Looking at the maximum reduction from previous high of -6.3 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
• Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -5.5 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, 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'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is 441 days, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 441 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 488 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.'

• The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Inflation-Protected Securities Index Fund is 100 days, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (123 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (179 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 147 days is lower, thus better.