Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX)

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.'

• Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 46.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (98.9%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 55.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 74% 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.'

• Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of 8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (14.8%)
• Compared with SPY (20.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8% is smaller, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the volatility of 14.7% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.1%)
• Looking at volatility in of 13.1% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to SPY (15.7%).

DownVol:

'The downside volatility is similar to the volatility, or standard deviation, but only takes losing/negative periods into account.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 10.2% of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund is smaller, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (10.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 9% is lower, thus better.

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 (0.72) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 0.38 of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (1.14) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 1.02 is lower, thus worse.

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio improves upon the Sharpe ratio by isolating downside volatility from total volatility by dividing excess return by the downside deviation. The Sortino ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that differentiates harmful volatility from total overall volatility by using the asset's standard deviation of negative asset returns, called downside deviation. The Sortino ratio takes the asset's return and subtracts the risk-free rate, and then divides that amount by the asset's downside deviation. The ratio was named after Frank A. Sortino.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund is 0.54, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (1.05) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (1.71) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 1.48 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (8.42 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 10 of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund is larger, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (3.63 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 3.68 is larger, thus worse.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown is defined as the peak-to-trough decline of an investment during a specific period. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak value. The maximum drawdown can be calculated based on absolute returns, in order to identify strategies that suffer less during market downturns, such as low-volatility strategies. However, the maximum drawdown can also be calculated based on returns relative to a benchmark index, for identifying strategies that show steady outperformance over time.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -29.6 days of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -13.1 days, which is greater, thus better than the value of -18.8 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) in days.'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund is 734 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (87 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days under water of 117 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 under water over 5 years of Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund is 242 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the same period.
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 30 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (21 days).