Description

The investment seeks to provide a high and sustainable level of current income. The fund invests at least 80% of its assets in U.S. Treasury securities, which include bills, bonds, and notes issued by the U.S. Treasury. It is expected to maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 15 to 30 years.

Statistics (YTD)

What do these metrics mean? [Read More] [Hide]

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the total return of -30.2% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (82.8%)
  • Looking at total return in of 2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (80.4%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of -7% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.9%)
  • Looking at annual performance (CAGR) in of 0.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (21.8%).

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 14.5% of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund is lower, thus better.
  • During the last 3 years, the volatility is 12.4%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 15.3% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

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

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The downside volatility over 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund is 10.5%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
  • Looking at downside risk in of 8.8% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (10.2%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The risk / return profile (Sharpe) over 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund is -0.65, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.6) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is -0.15, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.26 from the benchmark.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The ratio of annual return and downside deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund is -0.91, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.88) in the same period.
  • Looking at ratio of annual return and downside deviation in of -0.21 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.89).

Ulcer:

'The ulcer index is a stock market risk measure or technical analysis indicator devised by Peter Martin in 1987, and published by him and Byron McCann in their 1989 book The Investors Guide to Fidelity Funds. It's designed as a measure of volatility, but only volatility in the downward direction, i.e. the amount of drawdown or retracement occurring over a period. Other volatility measures like standard deviation treat up and down movement equally, but a trader doesn't mind upward movement, it's the downside that causes stress and stomach ulcers that the index's name suggests.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The Ulcer Index over 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund is 29 , which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (3.37 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 7.19 is greater, thus worse.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the maximum DrawDown of -41.4 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days)
  • Compared with SPY (-18.8 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley of -13.5 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The maximum time in days below previous high water mark over 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund is 1187 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 489 days, which is higher, 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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The average days under water over 5 years of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund is 567 days, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (118 days) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (18 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days under water of 181 days is greater, thus worse.

Performance (YTD)

Historical returns have been extended using synthetic data.

Allocations ()

Allocations

Returns (%)

  • Note that yearly returns do not equal the sum of monthly returns due to compounding.
  • Performance results of Vanguard Long Term Treasury Fund are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.