Description

This is the low volatility sub-strategy of the leveraged GLD-USD strategy.

Statistics (YTD)

What do these metrics mean? [Read More] [Hide]

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the total return, or increase in value of 89.4% in the last 5 years of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to the benchmark GLD (73.5%)
  • Compared with GLD (44.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value of 55% is higher, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the annual return (CAGR) of 13.6% in the last 5 years of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy, we see it is relatively greater, thus better in comparison to the benchmark GLD (11.7%)
  • During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 15.8%, which is greater, thus better than the value of 13.2% from the benchmark.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 8.8% in the last 5 years of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark GLD (15.5%)
  • Looking at historical 30 days volatility in of 8.6% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to GLD (14.6%).

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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • The downside volatility over 5 years of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy is 5.8%, which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark GLD (10.9%) in the same period.
  • Compared with GLD (9.9%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk of 5.5% is lower, thus better.

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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • Compared with the benchmark GLD (0.59) in the period of the last 5 years, the Sharpe Ratio of 1.27 of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy is larger, thus better.
  • Looking at ratio of return and volatility (Sharpe) in of 1.54 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better in comparison to GLD (0.73).

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • Compared with the benchmark GLD (0.84) in the period of the last 5 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation of 1.92 of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy is higher, thus better.
  • Compared with GLD (1.08) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside risk / excess return profile of 2.43 is larger, thus better.

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 Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy is 2.99 , which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark GLD (9.77 ) in the same period.
  • Compared with GLD (8.25 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 2.96 is smaller, thus better.

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.'

Applying this definition to our asset in some examples:
  • The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy is -8.3 days, which is higher, thus better compared to the benchmark GLD (-22 days) in the same period.
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum DrawDown is -7.4 days, which is greater, thus better than the value of -21 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.'

Using this definition on our asset we see for example:
  • Looking at the maximum days under water of 170 days in the last 5 years of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark GLD (897 days)
  • During the last 3 years, the maximum days under water is 170 days, which is smaller, thus better than the value of 436 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.'

Which means for our asset as example:
  • The average days below previous high over 5 years of Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy is 48 days, which is smaller, thus better compared to the benchmark GLD (347 days) in the same period.
  • Compared with GLD (142 days) in the period of the last 3 years, the average days below previous high of 49 days is lower, thus better.

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 Gold-USD Low volatility Sub-strategy are hypothetical and do not account for slippage, fees or taxes.
  • Results may be based on backtesting, which has many inherent limitations, some of which are described in our Terms of Use.