US sectors low volatility

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 (115.1%) in the period of the last 5 years, the total return, or increase in value of 51.3% of US sectors low volatility is lower, thus worse.
• Compared with SPY (71.1%) in the period of the last 3 years, the total return, or performance of 17.8% 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (16.6%) in the period of the last 5 years, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% of US sectors low volatility is lower, thus worse.
• Looking at compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in of 5.6% in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (19.7%).

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.'

• Looking at the historical 30 days volatility of 14.1% in the last 5 years of US sectors low volatility, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (17.5%)
• During the last 3 years, the volatility is 13.8%, which is smaller, thus better 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.'

• Looking at the downside volatility of 10.3% in the last 5 years of US sectors low volatility, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (12.1%)
• During the last 3 years, the downside risk is 9.9%, which is lower, thus better than the value of 11.5% from the benchmark.

Sharpe:

'The Sharpe ratio (also known as the Sharpe index, the Sharpe measure, and the reward-to-variability ratio) is a way to examine the performance of an investment by adjusting for its risk. The ratio measures the excess return (or risk premium) per unit of deviation in an investment asset or a trading strategy, typically referred to as risk, named after William F. Sharpe.'

• Looking at the Sharpe Ratio of 0.44 in the last 5 years of US sectors low volatility, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (0.8)
• Looking at risk / return profile (Sharpe) in of 0.23 in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively smaller, thus worse in comparison to SPY (0.98).

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.'

• Looking at the downside risk / excess return profile of 0.6 in the last 5 years of US sectors low volatility, we see it is relatively lower, thus worse in comparison to the benchmark SPY (1.17)
• During the last 3 years, the excess return divided by the downside deviation is 0.31, which is smaller, thus worse than the value of 1.49 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.'

• The Ulcer Ratio over 5 years of US sectors low volatility is 6.65 , which is lower, thus better compared to the benchmark SPY (8.48 ) in the same period.
• During the last 3 years, the Ulcer Ratio is 5.59 , which is higher, thus worse than the value of 5.31 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.'

• Compared with the benchmark SPY (-24.5 days) in the period of the last 5 years, the maximum reduction from previous high of -19.6 days of US sectors low volatility is greater, thus better.
• Looking at maximum DrawDown in of -16.2 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 time in days below previous high water mark of 462 days in the last 5 years of US sectors low volatility, we see it is relatively lower, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (488 days)
• Looking at maximum time in days below previous high water mark in of 364 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively greater, thus worse in comparison to SPY (199 days).

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.'

• Looking at the average days below previous high of 111 days in the last 5 years of US sectors low volatility, we see it is relatively smaller, thus better in comparison to the benchmark SPY (120 days)
• Looking at average days below previous high in of 111 days in the period of the last 3 years, we see it is relatively higher, thus worse in comparison to SPY (47 days).