Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares (VBISX)

TotalReturn:

'Total return is the amount of value an investor earns from a security over a specific period, typically one year, when all distributions are reinvested. Total return is expressed as a percentage of the amount invested. For example, a total return of 20% means the security increased by 20% of its original value due to a price increase, distribution of dividends (if a stock), coupons (if a bond) or capital gains (if a fund). Total return is a strong measure of an investment’s overall performance.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (115.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 4.8% of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (71.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return of 10% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (16.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 0.9% of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (19.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% 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.'

• The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is 2.8%, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (17.5%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (17.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 3.2% is smaller, 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 deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is 1.9%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (12.1%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (11.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 2% is lower, thus better.

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.'

• The ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is -0.55, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.8) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.23, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.98 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (1.17) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of -0.82 of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation is 0.37, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.49 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 (8.48 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 3.65 of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is lower, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 1.3 , which is lower, thus better than the value of 5.31 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 DrawDown over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is -8.7 days, which is greater, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -4.1 days is greater, thus better.

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 under water over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is 751 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 161 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 199 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 days under water over 5 years of Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Investor Shares is 250 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (47 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days under water of 49 days is higher, thus worse.