Description

The investment seeks to provide a high level of current income. The fund invests primarily in a diversified group of high-yielding, higher-risk corporate bonds-commonly known as "junk bonds"-with medium- and lower-range credit-quality ratings. It invests at least 80% of its assets in corporate bonds that are rated below Baa by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. (Moody's); have an equivalent rating by any other independent bond-rating agency; or, if unrated, are determined to be of comparable quality by the fund's advisor. The fund's high-yield bonds and loans mostly have short- and intermediate-term maturities.

Statistics (YTD)

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

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the total return of 18.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (91.1%)
  • During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 25%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 87% from the benchmark.

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The annual performance (CAGR) over 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund is 3.5%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (13.9%) in the same period.
  • Looking at annual return (CAGR) in of 7.8% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (23.4%).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The volatility over 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund is 5%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (17.1%) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the volatility is 3.6%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 15.3% from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The downside deviation over 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund is 3.4%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (10.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk of 2.1% is lower, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.21 in the last 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.67)
  • Compared with SPY (1.37) in the period of the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 1.45 is higher, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.31 in the last 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.97)
  • During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is 2.49, which is higher, thus better than the value of 2.06 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The Ulcer Ratio over 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund is 4.65 , which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (8.45 ) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (3.23 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 0.69 is lower, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund is -13.9 days, which is greater, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -2.9 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to SPY (-18.8 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the maximum days below previous high of 486 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
  • Compared with SPY (87 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum days below previous high of 40 days is smaller, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The average days under water over 5 years of Vanguard High Yield Corporate Fund is 119 days, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (119 days) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (17 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days under water of 12 days is smaller, thus better.

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 High Yield Corporate Fund are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.