Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund (VFSTX)

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 Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 13.3%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (77.1%) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 9%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 51.7% from the benchmark.

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 performance (CAGR) of 2.5% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.1%)
• Compared with SPY (14.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) of 2.9% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (13.3%) in the period of the last 5 years, the 30 days standard deviation of 1.5% of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is smaller, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 1.5%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 13% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (9.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside deviation of 0.9% of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is lower, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 0.9%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 9.4% from the benchmark.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio was developed by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, and is used to help investors understand the return of an investment compared to its risk. The ratio is the average return earned in excess of the risk-free rate per unit of volatility or total risk. Subtracting the risk-free rate from the mean return allows an investor to better isolate the profits associated with risk-taking activities. One intuition of this calculation is that a portfolio engaging in 'zero risk' investments, such as the purchase of U.S. Treasury bills (for which the expected return is the risk-free rate), has a Sharpe ratio of exactly zero. Generally, the greater the value of the Sharpe ratio, the more attractive the risk-adjusted return.'

• Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of 0.02 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.72)
• During the last 3 years, the Sharpe Ratio is 0.29, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.96 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.04 in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1)
• Looking at downside risk / excess return profile in of 0.5 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.32).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (3.97 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Index of 0.49 of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is smaller, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 0.53 , which is lower, thus better than the value of 4.1 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Looking at the maximum DrawDown of -1.5 days in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-19.3 days)
• During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -1.5 days, which is larger, thus better than the value of -19.3 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). Many assume Max DD Duration is the length of time between new highs during which the Max DD (magnitude) occurred. But that isn’t always the case. The Max DD duration is the longest time between peaks, period. So it could be the time when the program also had its biggest peak to valley loss (and usually is, because the program needs a long time to recover from the largest loss), but it doesn’t have to be'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (187 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 320 days of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is higher, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 320 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 139 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (42 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the average days below previous high of 71 days of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is larger, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the average days below previous high is 89 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 37 days from the benchmark.