Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund (VEIEX)

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 (115.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 40% of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 32.7%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 71.1% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (16.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 7% of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) is 9.9%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 19.7% from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 15.8% of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (17.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 14.4% is lower, 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.'

• Looking at the downside deviation of 11% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.1%)
• During the last 3 years, the downside volatility is 9.9%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 11.5% from the benchmark.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio (also known as the Sharpe index, the Sharpe measure, and the reward-to-variability ratio) is a way to examine the performance of an investment by adjusting for its risk. The ratio measures the excess return (or risk premium) per unit of deviation in an investment asset or a trading strategy, typically referred to as risk, named after William F. Sharpe.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.8) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.28 of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.98) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.52 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• The excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is 0.41, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (1.17) in the same period.
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 0.75 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.49).

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.'

• Looking at the Downside risk index of 17 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.48 )
• Looking at Downside risk index in of 5.73 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (5.31 ).

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 reduction from previous high of -34.3 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -15.8 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, 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). 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'

• Looking at the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 1097 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 164 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 500 days of Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (47 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 58 days is larger, thus worse.