Description

Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company operates as an advisory, broking, and solutions company worldwide. The company's Human Capital and Benefits segment offers actuarial support, plan design, and administrative services for traditional pension and retirement savings plans; plan management consulting, broking, and administration services for health and group benefit programs; and benefits outsourcing services. It also provides advice, data, software, and products to address clients' total rewards and talent issues. Its Corporate Risk and Broking segment offers risk advice, insurance brokerage, and consulting services in the areas of property and casualty, financial lines, and transport. The company's Investment, Risk and Reinsurance segment offers capital markets-based products to insurance and reinsurance companies; software and technology, risk and capital management, products and pricing, financial and regulatory reporting, financial and capital modeling, merger and acquisition, outsourcing, and business management services; investment advice and solutions to pension funds and institutional investors; wholesale insurance broking services to retail and wholesale brokers; and underwriting and capital management, capital market, and advisory and brokerage services. Its Benefits Delivery and Administration segment provides primary medical and ancillary benefit exchange, and outsourcing services to active employees and retirees in the group and individual markets. This segment delivers healthcare and reimbursement accounts, including health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, flexible spending accounts, and other consumer-directed accounts. The company was formerly known as Willis Group Holdings Public Limited Company and changed its name to Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company in January 2016. Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company was founded in 1828 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Statistics (YTD)

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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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (85.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of 96.2% of Willis Towers Watson is larger, thus better.
  • During the last 3 years, the total return, or performance is 59.1%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 74.4% 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The annual performance (CAGR) over 5 years of Willis Towers Watson is 14.4%, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (13.3%) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the annual performance (CAGR) is 16.7%, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 20.5% from the benchmark.

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 Willis Towers Watson is 25.5%, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (17.2%) in the same period.
  • Looking at 30 days standard deviation in of 29.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (15.3%).

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the downside risk of 17.8% in the last 5 years of Willis Towers Watson, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (11.8%)
  • During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 20.7%, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 10.3% from the benchmark.

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 Sharpe Ratio of 0.47 in the last 5 years of Willis Towers Watson, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.63)
  • Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of 0.48 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.18).

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:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (0.91) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 0.67 of Willis Towers Watson is smaller, thus worse.
  • During the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile is 0.68, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 1.75 from the benchmark.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The Ulcer Ratio over 5 years of Willis Towers Watson is 7.99 , which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (8.46 ) in the same period.
  • Compared with SPY (3.52 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Downside risk index of 9.23 is larger, thus worse.

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:
  • The maximum reduction from previous high over 5 years of Willis Towers Watson is -32.9 days, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
  • Looking at maximum reduction from previous high in of -32.9 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Compared with the benchmark SPY (488 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days below previous high of 252 days of Willis Towers Watson is smaller, thus better.
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 252 days, which is greater, thus worse than the value of 87 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the average time in days below previous high water mark of 60 days in the last 5 years of Willis Towers Watson, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (119 days)
  • Looking at average days under water in of 77 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to SPY (21 days).

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 Willis Towers Watson are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.