Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (VBMFX)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (82.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of -2.2% of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 13.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 80.4% from the benchmark.

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 annual return (CAGR) over 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is -0.4%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12.9%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (21.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 4.2% is smaller, thus worse.

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 30 days standard deviation of 6% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.2%)
• During the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation is 5.2%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 15.3% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

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

• The downside risk over 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is 4.3%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside deviation in of 3.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (10.2%).

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio is the measure of risk-adjusted return of a financial portfolio. Sharpe ratio is a measure of excess portfolio return over the risk-free rate relative to its standard deviation. Normally, the 90-day Treasury bill rate is taken as the proxy for risk-free rate. A portfolio with a higher Sharpe ratio is considered superior relative to its peers. The measure was named after William F Sharpe, a Nobel laureate and professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University.'

• The Sharpe Ratio over 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is -0.49, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.6) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.33, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.26 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of -0.69 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.88)
• Compared with SPY (1.89) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.49 is lower, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Downside risk index of 9.22 of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 1.84 , which is lower, thus better than the value of 3.37 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 DrawDown of -18.1 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
• Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -4.8 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, 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.'

• Looking at the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 1244 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• 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 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (118 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 620 days of Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at average days under water in of 53 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (18 days).