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.'

• The total return over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 51%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (109.3%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 8%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 34.3% 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.'

• Looking at the annual performance (CAGR) of 8.6% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (16%)
• Compared with SPY (10.4%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 2.6% 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 historical 30 days volatility of 24.4% 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 (18%)
• Compared with SPY (18.8%) in the period of the last 3 years, the volatility of 24.9% is higher, thus worse.

DownVol:

'Downside risk is the financial risk associated with losses. That is, it is the risk of the actual return being below the expected return, or the uncertainty about the magnitude of that difference. 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.'

• Looking at the downside risk of 17.1% 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 (12.5%)
• Looking at downside deviation in of 17.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (13%).

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.'

• The Sharpe Ratio over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 0.25, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.75) in the same period.
• Looking at ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) in of 0 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.42).

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.'

• Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.36 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1.07)
• Compared with SPY (0.6) in the period of the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.01 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.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Ratio of 20 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 (8.45 )
• Compared with SPY (5.75 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 9.05 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.'

• Looking at the maximum drop from peak to valley of -38.4 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
• Looking at maximum drop from peak to valley in of -27.5 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (-18.8 days).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark of 765 days of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is higher, thus worse.
• Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 226 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (199 days).

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.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 266 days 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 (118 days)
• Looking at average time in days below previous high water mark in of 60 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (45 days).