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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (115.2%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 10% of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at total return, or increase in value in of 14.9% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (70.9%).

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 return (CAGR) over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 1.9%, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (16.6%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (19.7%) in the period of the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) of 4.8% 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 2.8% in the last 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.6%)
• During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 3.3%, which is lower, thus better 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 deviation over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 1.9%, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (12.1%) in the same period.
• Looking at downside deviation in of 2% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to SPY (11.6%).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.81) in the period of the last 5 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of -0.2 of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) is 0.7, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.98 from the benchmark.

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 downside risk / excess return profile of -0.3 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 (1.17)
• Compared with SPY (1.49) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 1.12 is smaller, thus worse.

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.'

• The Downside risk index over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 3.57 , which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (8.48 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 1.12 , which is lower, thus better than the value of 5.31 from the benchmark.

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum DrawDown of -9.4 days of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is greater, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum drop from peak to valley is -4.4 days, which is greater, thus better 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.'

• The maximum days below previous high over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 711 days, which is larger, 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 126 days, which is smaller, thus better 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 under water over 5 years of Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade Fund is 233 days, which is larger, thus worse 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 35 days, which is lower, thus better than the value of 47 days from the benchmark.