Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (86.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of -1.9% of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 13.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (79.8%).

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 (13.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.4% of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in of 4.3% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (21.7%).

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.'

• The volatility over 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is 6%, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (17.2%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 5.2%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 15.4% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

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

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside volatility of 4.2% of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is lower, thus better.
• Looking at downside volatility in of 3.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (10.3%).

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 (0.63) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.48 of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is 0.35, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.25 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of -0.68 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.91)
• Compared with SPY (1.86) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.51 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is 9.22 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (3.37 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 1.83 is smaller, thus better.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is -18.1 days, which is larger, 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 -4.8 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 Total Bond Market Index Fund is 1234 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum days below previous high in of 195 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, 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.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 613 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (119 days)
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 52 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (18 days).