iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN (VXZ)

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.'

• The total return, or increase in value over 5 years of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN is 36.9%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (60.7%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (29.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 48.6% is larger, thus better.

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 annual return (CAGR) of 6.5% in the last 5 years of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (10%)
• Compared with SPY (9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.1% is greater, thus better.

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.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 36.2% in the last 5 years of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (20.8%)
• Compared with SPY (24%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 39.6% is larger, thus worse.

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• The downside deviation over 5 years of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN is 20.9%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.3%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 22.7%, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 17.6% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.36) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.11 of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.27) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.29 is larger, thus better.

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 excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN is 0.19, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.49) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 0.51, which is higher, thus better than the value of 0.37 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (7.52 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 21 of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (8.81 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 23 is greater, thus worse.

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.'

• The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN is -35.9 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -35.9 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -33.7 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (182 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 635 days of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high is 635 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 182 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 under water of 273 days in the last 5 years of iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures ETN, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (45 days)
• During the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark is 278 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 43 days from the benchmark.