American Express (AXP)

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.'

• Looking at the total return of 257.7% in the last 5 years of American Express, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (115.2%)
• Compared with SPY (70.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of 138.6% is larger, thus better.

CAGR:

'The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is a useful measure of growth over multiple time periods. It can be thought of as the growth rate that gets you from the initial investment value to the ending investment value if you assume that the investment has been compounding over the time period.'

• Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of 29.2% in the last 5 years of American Express, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (16.6%)
• Compared with SPY (19.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.9% is greater, thus better.

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.'

• The volatility over 5 years of American Express is 31.3%, which is larger, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.6%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 28.4%, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 17.5% from the benchmark.

DownVol:

'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.'

• The downside volatility over 5 years of American Express is 20%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (12.1%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside deviation in of 18.4% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (11.6%).

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 American Express is 0.85, which is greater, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (0.81) in the same period.
• Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of 1.1 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to SPY (0.98).

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 1.33 in the last 5 years of American Express, we see it is relatively larger, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1.17)
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 1.7 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to SPY (1.49).

Ulcer:

'Ulcer Index is a method for measuring investment risk that addresses the real concerns of investors, unlike the widely used standard deviation of return. UI is a measure of the depth and duration of drawdowns in prices from earlier highs. Using Ulcer Index instead of standard deviation can lead to very different conclusions about investment risk and risk-adjusted return, especially when evaluating strategies that seek to avoid major declines in portfolio value (market timing, dynamic asset allocation, hedge funds, etc.). The Ulcer Index was originally developed in 1987. Since then, it has been widely recognized and adopted by the investment community. According to Nelson Freeburg, editor of Formula Research, Ulcer Index is “perhaps the most fully realized statistical portrait of risk there is.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Index of 13 in the last 5 years of American Express, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.48 )
• Looking at Ulcer Ratio in of 9.07 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (5.31 ).

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.'

• The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of American Express is -31.5 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -28.8 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -18.8 days from the benchmark.

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 time in days below previous high water mark of 486 days of American Express is smaller, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 211 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 199 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.'

• The average days below previous high over 5 years of American Express is 117 days, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average time in days below previous high water mark is 55 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 47 days from the benchmark.