iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT)

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (57.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return of -17.5% of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (32%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of -44.2% is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• Looking at the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of -3.8% in the last 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (9.5%)
• Looking at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in of -17.7% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (9.7%).

Volatility:

'Volatility is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index. Volatility can either be measured by using the standard deviation or variance between returns from that same security or market index. Commonly, the higher the volatility, the riskier the security. In the securities markets, volatility is often associated with big swings in either direction. For example, when the stock market rises and falls more than one percent over a sustained period of time, it is called a 'volatile' market.'

• The historical 30 days volatility over 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is 17.1%, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (21.5%) in the same period.
• Compared with SPY (17.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the historical 30 days volatility of 17% is lower, thus better.

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.'

• Looking at the downside risk of 12% in the last 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (15.5%)
• Compared with SPY (12.5%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk of 12.5% is greater, thus worse.

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 (0.32) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) of -0.37 of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (0.41) in the period of the last 3 years, the risk / return profile (Sharpe) of -1.19 is lower, thus worse.

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.'

• The excess return divided by the downside deviation over 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is -0.52, which is lower, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (0.45) in the same period.
• Looking at excess return divided by the downside deviation in of -1.62 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.58).

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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (9.57 ) in the period of the last 5 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 21 of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is greater, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (10 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 24 is higher, 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-33.7 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -46.9 days of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is smaller, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown of -44.2 days is lower, thus worse.

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 (439 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum days under water of 796 days of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF is greater, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the maximum time in days below previous high water mark is 754 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 439 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.'

• Looking at the average days under water of 275 days in the last 5 years of iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (106 days)
• Compared with SPY (149 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 378 days is larger, thus worse.