Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund (VIPSX)

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, or increase in value of 7.2% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (80%)
• During the last 3 years, the total return is 10.9%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 78.8% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 5 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 1.4% of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (21.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 3.5% is lower, 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 volatility of 6% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17%)
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 5%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 15.1% from the benchmark.

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 (11.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside volatility of 4.2% of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is lower, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 3.4%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 10.1% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.59) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.18 of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at risk / return profile (Sharpe) in of 0.21 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.26).

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.'

• The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is -0.26, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.86) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (1.89) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.3 is lower, 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 (8.42 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 7.6 of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (3.39 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Index of 2.03 is smaller, thus better.

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.'

• The maximum drop from peak to valley over 5 years of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is -14.6 days, which is larger, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -6.4 days is higher, thus better.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 1077 days of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 290 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 87 days from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark of 481 days of Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities Fund is greater, thus worse.
• Looking at average time in days below previous high water mark in of 80 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (19 days).