Description

As of December 4, 2019, Viacom Inc. was acquired by CBS Corporation. Viacom Inc. operates media brands that create entertainment content worldwide. It operates in two segments, Media Networks and Filmed Entertainment. The Media Networks segment offers entertainment content, services, and related branded products to advertisers, content distributors, and retailers through approximately 320 locally programmed and operated television channels, including Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, Nick Jr., VH1, TV Land, CMT, Logo, Channel 5, Milkshake!, Telefe, COLORS, Paramount Channel, TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick Music, MTV2, MTV Classic, MTV Live, BET Her, BET Gospel, and BET Hip Hop, as well as through online, mobile, and apps. The Filmed Entertainment segment develops, produces, finances, acquires, and distributes films, television programming, and other entertainment content under the Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, Nickelodeon Movies, MTV Films, and BET Films brands. This segment exhibits films theatrically through home entertainment, licensing to television and digital platforms, and ancillary activities. The company releases its content through DVDs, Blu-ray discs, syndication and transactional video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand, over-the-top distributors, pay television, cable television, free television, and free video-on-demand, as well as airlines and hotels. Viacom Inc. was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Statistics (YTD)

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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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The total return over 5 years of Viacom is -62.8%, which is smaller, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (91.8%) in the same period.
  • Looking at total return, or increase in value in of -28.3% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (30.9%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of -18% in the last 5 years of Viacom, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (13.9%)
  • During the last 3 years, the annual return (CAGR) is -10.5%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 9.5% from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The historical 30 days volatility over 5 years of Viacom is 34.9%, which is greater, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (21%) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility is 32.4%, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 17.5% 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the downside risk of 26.5% in the last 5 years of Viacom, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15%)
  • Looking at downside deviation in of 23.8% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (12.3%).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.59 in the last 5 years of Viacom, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.54)
  • Compared with SPY (0.4) in the period of the last 3 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.4 is smaller, thus worse.

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 downside risk / excess return profile over 5 years of Viacom is -0.77, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.76) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation is -0.55, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 0.57 from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Looking at the Ulcer Ratio of 50 in the last 5 years of Viacom, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.33 )
  • During the last 3 years, the Downside risk index is 33 , which is larger, thus worse than the value of 8.89 from the benchmark.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown is defined as the peak-to-trough decline of an investment during a specific period. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak value. The maximum drawdown can be calculated based on absolute returns, in order to identify strategies that suffer less during market downturns, such as low-volatility strategies. However, the maximum drawdown can also be calculated based on returns relative to a benchmark index, for identifying strategies that show steady outperformance over time.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the maximum DrawDown of -68.6 days in the last 5 years of Viacom, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days)
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum reduction from previous high is -51.3 days, which is lower, thus worse than the value of -22.4 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 1245 days of Viacom is larger, thus worse.
  • Looking at maximum days under water in of 674 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (375 days).

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:
  • Looking at the average days under water of 618 days in the last 5 years of Viacom, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (122 days)
  • During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 310 days, which is larger, thus worse than the value of 114 days from the benchmark.

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 Viacom are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.