Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund (VFSTX)

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 Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 8.4%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (91.2%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 4.5%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 30.8% from the benchmark.

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 (13.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 1.6% of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (9.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 1.5% is lower, 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.'

• The 30 days standard deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 3%, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (21%) in the same period.
• Looking at volatility in of 3.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (17.5%).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (15%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside volatility of 2% of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (12.3%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 2.2% 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.'

• The Sharpe Ratio over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is -0.29, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.54) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (0.4) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of -0.3 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.'

• Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of -0.43 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.76)
• Compared with SPY (0.56) in the period of the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of -0.45 is smaller, thus worse.

Ulcer:

'The Ulcer Index is a technical indicator that measures downside risk, in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines. The index increases in value as the price moves farther away from a recent high and falls as the price rises to new highs. The indicator is usually calculated over a 14-day period, with the Ulcer Index showing the percentage drawdown a trader can expect from the high over that period. The greater the value of the Ulcer Index, the longer it takes for a stock to get back to the former high.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (9.33 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 3.82 of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is smaller, thus better.
• Looking at Ulcer Index in of 3.46 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (8.89 ).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -9.7 days of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is larger, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley is -7.9 days, which is higher, thus better than the value of -22.4 days from the benchmark.

MaxDuration:

'The Maximum 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. It is the length of time the account was in the Max Drawdown. A Max Drawdown measures a retrenchment from when an equity curve reaches a new high. It’s the maximum an account lost during that retrenchment. This method is applied because a valley can’t be measured until a new high occurs. Once the new high is reached, the percentage change from the old high to the bottom of the largest trough is recorded.'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 718 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 489 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 375 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.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 239 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (122 days)
• Compared with SPY (114 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 176 days is higher, thus worse.