Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund (VFISX)

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.'

• Looking at the total return of 9.9% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (60.9%)
• Looking at total return, or performance in of 8.2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (34.2%).

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 (10%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 1.9% of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 2.7%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 10.3% from the benchmark.

Volatility:

'Volatility is a rate at which the price of a security increases or decreases for a given set of returns. Volatility is measured by calculating the standard deviation of the annualized returns over a given period of time. It shows the range to which the price of a security may increase or decrease. Volatility measures the risk of a security. It is used in option pricing formula to gauge the fluctuations in the returns of the underlying assets. Volatility indicates the pricing behavior of the security and helps estimate the fluctuations that may happen in a short period of time.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (18.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the volatility of 1.4% of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund is smaller, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (21.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 1.5% 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.'

• Looking at the downside volatility of 0.9% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (13.6%)
• Looking at downside risk in of 0.9% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (15.7%).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.4) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.41 of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.36) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.11 is smaller, 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 ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund is -0.66, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.55) in the same period.
• Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of 0.19 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.5).

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.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Index of 0.55 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (5.82 )
• During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 0.6 , which is lower, thus better than the value of 6.86 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the maximum reduction from previous high of -1.4 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -1.4 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to SPY (-33.7 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.'

• The maximum days under water over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund is 320 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (187 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum days under water in of 320 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (139 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 (43 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days under water of 90 days of Vanguard Short Term Treasury Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at average days under water in of 90 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (39 days).