Description

The investment seeks to provide a moderate and sustainable level of current income. The fund invests at least 80% of its assets in U.S. Treasury securities, which include bills, bonds, and notes issued by the U.S. Treasury. It is expected to maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 5 to 10 years.

Statistics (YTD)

What do these metrics mean? [Read More] [Hide]

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (109.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of -7.7% of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is lower, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the total return is 5.9%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 42.5% from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (16%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of -1.6% of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is lower, thus worse.
  • Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of 1.9% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (12.6%).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The historical 30 days volatility over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is 5.7%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (17.9%) in the same period.
  • Looking at 30 days standard deviation in of 6.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (18.4%).

DownVol:

'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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of 4.1% of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is smaller, thus better.
  • During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 4.3%, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 12.6% from the benchmark.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the Sharpe Ratio of -0.72 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.75)
  • Looking at ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) in of -0.09 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.55).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of -1 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1.08)
  • During the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation is -0.13, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.8 from the benchmark.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the Ulcer Index of 11 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.48 )
  • During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index is 3.81 , which is smaller, thus better than the value of 5.54 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the maximum drop from peak to valley of -18.6 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
  • Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -8.3 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) in days.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 1195 days of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is greater, thus worse.
  • Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 501 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (199 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The average days under water over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is 580 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at average days under water in of 188 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (44 days).

Performance (YTD)

Historical returns have been extended using synthetic data.

Allocations ()

Allocations

Returns (%)

  • Note that yearly returns do not equal the sum of monthly returns due to compounding.
  • Performance results of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.