Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund (VFITX)

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.'

• The total return, or performance over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is -4.4%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (101.9%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return is -6.4%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 33.5% 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 compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is -0.9%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (15.1%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (10.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of -2.2% is smaller, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 5.7% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (21%)
• Looking at volatility in of 6.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (17.5%).

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 Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is 4.1%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (15%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (12.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 4.5% is lower, thus better.

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 (0.6) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of -0.6 of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) is -0.73, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.44 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.'

• The downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is -0.83, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.84) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is -1.04, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.62 from the benchmark.

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.'

• The Ulcer Ratio over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is 11 , which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (9.32 ) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 8.07 is lower, thus better.

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.'

• The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is -18.6 days, which is larger, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -13.1 days, which is larger, thus better than the value of -24.5 days from the benchmark.

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 days below previous high of 1105 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Compared with SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 749 days is greater, thus worse.

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.'

• The average days below previous high over 5 years of Vanguard Intermediate Term Treasury Fund is 506 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (122 days) in the same period.
• Looking at average days under water in of 374 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (177 days).