Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund (VISGX)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (98.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of 37.7% of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of -13.3% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (27.2%).

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.'

• The annual performance (CAGR) over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 6.6%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (14.7%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (8.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of -4.7% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (20.9%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 26.8% of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at historical 30 days volatility in of 24.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (17.7%).

DownVol:

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

• Looking at the downside risk of 19.4% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (14.9%)
• Looking at downside volatility in of 17.6% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (12.4%).

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio was developed by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, and is used to help investors understand the return of an investment compared to its risk. The ratio is the average return earned in excess of the risk-free rate per unit of volatility or total risk. Subtracting the risk-free rate from the mean return allows an investor to better isolate the profits associated with risk-taking activities. One intuition of this calculation is that a portfolio engaging in 'zero risk' investments, such as the purchase of U.S. Treasury bills (for which the expected return is the risk-free rate), has a Sharpe ratio of exactly zero. Generally, the greater the value of the Sharpe ratio, the more attractive the risk-adjusted return.'

• The ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 0.15, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.58) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio is -0.29, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.33 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 excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 0.21, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.82) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is -0.41, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.47 from the benchmark.

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.'

• The Ulcer Index over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 20 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (9.32 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 25 , which is larger, thus worse than the value of 10 from the benchmark.

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.'

• The maximum drop from peak to valley over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is -38.7 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of -38.4 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-24.5 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 711 days of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high is 711 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 488 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 time in days below previous high water mark of 236 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (123 days)
• During the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark is 341 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 177 days from the benchmark.