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 32.2%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (86.3%) in the same period.
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 62% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (79.8%).

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.'

• The annual performance (CAGR) over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 5.8%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.3%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (21.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 17.5% 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 23.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.2%)
• Looking at historical 30 days volatility in of 21.5% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (15.4%).

DownVol:

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

• The downside volatility over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 16.6%, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside volatility in of 14.6% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (10.3%).

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 (0.63) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of 0.14 of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (1.25) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.7 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.91) in the period of the last 5 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.2 of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is 1.03, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.86 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.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Ratio of 20 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.45 )
• Looking at Downside risk index in of 6.86 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (3.37 ).

MaxDD:

'A maximum drawdown is the maximum loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum Drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period. It can be used both as a stand-alone measure or as an input into other metrics such as 'Return over Maximum Drawdown' and the Calmar Ratio. Maximum Drawdown is expressed in percentage terms.'

• Looking at the maximum DrawDown 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)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -27.5 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -18.8 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 time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 765 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 195 days is higher, thus worse.

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.'

• The average time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund is 260 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the same period.
• Looking at average days under water in of 43 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (18 days).