Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio

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 (97.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or performance of 47.3% of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio is smaller, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the total return, or increase in value is 52.7%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 86.9% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (14.7%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1% of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) is 15.3%, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 23.3% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (17.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the volatility of 13% of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio is lower, thus better.
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 11.4%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 15.3% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (11.8%) in the period of the last 5 years, the downside risk of 9% of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio is lower, thus better.
• Compared with SPY (10.2%) in the period of the last 3 years, the downside deviation of 7.7% is smaller, thus better.

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.'

• Looking at the Sharpe Ratio of 0.43 in the last 5 years of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.71)
• Looking at Sharpe Ratio in of 1.12 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to SPY (1.36).

Sortino:

'The Sortino ratio, a variation of the Sharpe ratio only factors in the downside, or negative volatility, rather than the total volatility used in calculating the Sharpe ratio. The theory behind the Sortino variation is that upside volatility is a plus for the investment, and it, therefore, should not be included in the risk calculation. Therefore, the Sortino ratio takes upside volatility out of the equation and uses only the downside standard deviation in its calculation instead of the total standard deviation that is used in calculating the Sharpe ratio.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (1.03) in the period of the last 5 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation of 0.62 of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio is lower, thus worse.
• During the last 3 years, the ratio of annual return and downside deviation is 1.67, which is lower, thus worse than the value of 2.05 from the benchmark.

Ulcer:

'The Ulcer Index is a technical indicator that measures downside risk, in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines. The index increases in value as the price moves farther away from a recent high and falls as the price rises to new highs. The indicator is usually calculated over a 14-day period, with the Ulcer Index showing the percentage drawdown a trader can expect from the high over that period. The greater the value of the Ulcer Index, the longer it takes for a stock to get back to the former high.'

• Looking at the Ulcer Ratio of 8.71 in the last 5 years of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (8.42 )
• Compared with SPY (3.52 ) in the period of the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio of 2.98 is lower, thus better.

MaxDD:

'Maximum drawdown measures the loss in any losing period during a fund’s investment record. It is defined as the percent retrenchment from a fund’s peak value to the fund’s valley value. The drawdown is in effect from the time the fund’s retrenchment begins until a new fund high is reached. The maximum drawdown encompasses both the period from the fund’s peak to the fund’s valley (length), and the time from the fund’s valley to a new fund high (recovery). It measures the largest percentage drawdown that has occurred in any fund’s data record.'

• The maximum DrawDown over 5 years of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio is -24.3 days, which is greater, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the same period.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -12.5 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus better 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.'

• Looking at the maximum days under water of 582 days in the last 5 years of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio, we see it is relatively larger, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 94 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (87 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.'

• The average days under water over 5 years of Dr. Bernstein's No Brainer Portfolio is 157 days, which is higher, thus worse compared to the benchmark SPY (120 days) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the average days under water is 23 days, which is higher, thus worse than the value of 21 days from the benchmark.