Description

The investment seeks income and long-term growth of capital. The fund invests in a portfolio of equity, fixed-income and money market securities that is actively managed to capitalize on opportunities created by perceived misvaluation. It will invest 45% to 70% of its total assets in equity and equity-related securities. Under normal circumstances, 30% to 55% of the fund's total assets are invested in fixed income securities. It may invest up to 15% of its total assets in equity-related securities of small companies.

Statistics (YTD)

What do these metrics mean? [Read More] [Hide]

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (93.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 45.2% of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A is lower, thus worse.
  • Looking at total return in of 54.2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (84.5%).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of 7.8% in the last 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (14.2%)
  • During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 15.6%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 22.8% from the benchmark.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the 30 days standard deviation of 10.6% in the last 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17%)
  • Looking at volatility in of 9.6% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (15.1%).

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (11.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 7.4% of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A is smaller, thus better.
  • During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 6.4%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 10.1% 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.5 in the last 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.68)
  • Looking at ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) in of 1.37 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to SPY (1.35).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.71 in the last 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1)
  • Compared with SPY (2.02) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 2.04 is larger, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The Downside risk index over 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A is 7.74 , which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (3.5 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 2.32 is lower, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The maximum drop from peak to valley over 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A is -21.3 days, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -11.4 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, 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) in days.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A is 532 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 120 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (87 days).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A is 138 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (20 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 23 days is larger, thus worse.

Performance (YTD)

Historical returns have been extended using synthetic data.

Allocations ()

Allocations

Returns (%)

  • Note that yearly returns do not equal the sum of monthly returns due to compounding.
  • Performance results of PGIM Balanced Fund Class A are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.