αc International Equities II

New York Stock Exchange
USD

The portfolio pursues a strategy that seeks to achieve equity-like returns with lower volatility and drawdowns compared to traditional equity through active ETF selection, risk management and diversification. It is thus expected to produce higher risk-adjusted returns than market indexes.

We use a systematic approach to constructing the portfolio by ranking ETFs in the investment universe using a number of technical indicators and proprietary formulas. We then select a single ETF which is deemed the most attractive compared to the other ETFs, and rebalance once a month. During unfavorable market conditions we invest in fixed-income instruments.

The investment universe for the portfolio is comprised of international equities (U.S. & ex-U.S.) with mainly large-cap companies.

1 November 1996  –  26 March 2024
Compare with
Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares (VHGEX)

Performance

Annualized Return
11.53%
αc International Equities II
8.78%
Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares
Sharpe Ratio
0.99
αc International Equities II
0.56
Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares
Maximum Drawdown
-25.63%
αc International Equities II
-63.67%
Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares

Metrics

Metric αc International Equities II Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares
Initial Balance $10,000 $10,000
Final Balance $199,091 $100,451
Returns   [View more details]
Month-To-Date 2.43% 2.36%
Year-To-Date 9.49% 7.41%
3M 9.87% 8.11%
6M 17.45% 19%
Annual Return (3Y) 6.62% 2.89%
Annual Return (5Y) 10% 10.06%
Annual Return (All) 11.53% 8.78%
Risk   [View more details]
Annual Volatility 11.76% 17.76%
Max Drawdown -25.63% -63.67%
Sharpe Ratio 0.99 0.56
Sortino Ratio 1.38 0.78
Adjusted Sortino (S/√2) 0.98 0.55

  • Initial balance: The amount of starting capital used to invest in the asset or portfolio. In this case, we're starting with a $10,000 investment on November 1996.
  • Final balance: The amount of capital we've accrued over time as of March 2024.
  • Annual return: Also known as annualized return, or CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), measures how much an investment has increased on average each year, during a specific time period. The time period in this case is approximately 27 year(s). Even a small difference in return can have a big impact on the final balance over a long period of time.
  • Annual volatility: Basically indicates how much, in percentage points, the investment can deviate from its annual return, under most circumstances. An investment with an annual return of 5% and an annual volatility of 10% would indicate returns from approximately -5% to 15% most of the time. A lower volatility is usually preferred to ensure more steady returns over time.
  • Best year: The best performance attained over its lifetime in a given year.
  • Worst year: The worst performance undergone over its lifetime in a given year.
  • Max drawdown: The largest percentage drop from a peak to a trough of an asset or portfolio, before a new peak is attained. Maximum drawdown is an indicator of downside risk over a specified time period.
  • Sharpe Ratio: The Sharpe ratio measures the performance of an investment compared to a risk-free asset, after adjusting for its risk. A Sharpe Ratio above 1 is considered good.
  • Sortino Ratio: The Sortino Ratio is a variation of the Sharpe ratio that only penalizes the investment for negative volatility/outcomes, and not for positive volatility. A Sortino Ratio above 1 is considered good.
  • Adjusted Sortino Ratio: Sortino Ratio/√2. To allow for comparing the Sortino ratio to the Sharpe ratio, we multiply the risk measure of the Sortino ratio by the square root of 2 (which is the same as dividing the Sortino ratio by the square root of 2).
  • Ulcer Index: The Ulcer Index (UI) is a technical indicator that measures downside risk in terms of both the depth and duration of price declines.
  • Gain to Pain Ratio: The sum of all returns divided by the absolute value of the sum of all negative returns. In essence, the GPR shows the ratio of net returns to the losses incurred in getting those returns.

Annualized Returns

Annual Return 1y Annual Return 3y Annual Return 5y Annual Return 10y Annual Return 20y Annual Return
αc International Equities II 22.3% 6.62% 10% 8.59% 10.72% 11.53%
Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares 24.89% 2.89% 10.06% 8.68% 8.11% 8.78%

Annual Returns

Year αc International Equities II Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares Won
1996 5.12% 3.78%
1997 33.47% 6.98%
1998 12.29% 9.44%
1999 19.54% 25.97%
2000 -4.52% -0.26%
2001 8.39% -3.71%
2002 -8.97% -4.59%
2003 42.52% 45.64%
2004 11.37% 20.08%
2005 3.87% 11.79%
2006 17.58% 23.6%
2007 11.42% 11.48%
2008 -0.26% -46.64%
2009 29.15% 32.97%
2010 8.38% 16.04%
2011 11.51% -8.9%
2012 11.01% 19.51%
2013 30.8% 27.65%
2014 13.46% 4.31%
2015 -8.1% -0.26%
2016 2.79% 6.57%
2017 21.46% 27.8%
2018 4.59% -9.15%
2019 14.29% 28.73%
2020 15.61% 22.38%
2021 27.64% 13.06%
2022 -24.24% -22.72%
2023 20.65% 22.1%
2024 9.49% 7.41%

αc International Equities II had 24 positive years and 5 negative years. That's a positive ratio of 83%.

Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares had 21 positive years and 8 negative years. That's a positive ratio of 72%.

αc International Equities II had a better yearly return 38% of the time compared to Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares.

Monthly Returns

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YTD
1996 - - - - - - - - - - 7.7% -2.4% 5.1%
1997 6.2% 1% -4.4% 6.3% 6.3% 4.1% 7.9% -5.2% 4.8% -2.5% 3.9% 1.9% 33.5%
1998 1.3% 6.9% 4.9% 1.3% -2.1% 4.3% -1.4% -14.1% 2.1% -0.6% 4.3% 6.5% 12.3%
1999 3.5% -3.2% 4.2% 3.8% -2.3% 5.5% -3.1% -0.2% -1% 0.9% 2.4% 8.1% 19.5%
2000 -5.7% 0.3% 6.9% -3.8% -1.6% 2% 0.7% 6.4% -5.5% 1% -6.8% 2.7% -4.5%
2001 1.8% 0.9% 0.6% -0.5% 0.7% 0.5% 2.2% 1.1% 0.9% 1.9% -1.3% -0.7% 8.4%
2002 -2% 0.5% -1.5% -3.1% 0.6% 0.3% 0.5% 1.7% 1.5% -0.6% -0.2% -6.8% -9%
2003 1.4% 1.4% -0.1% 7.9% 5.5% 1.7% 2% 2.2% 0.6% 5.9% 1.5% 6.3% 42.5%
2004 1.6% 1.7% -0.7% -2.1% 0.8% 2.1% -3.1% 0.8% 0.5% 0.9% 4.7% 3.8% 11.4%
2005 -2.3% 3.2% -1.9% -2.2% 1.8% 0.2% 3.8% -0.9% 2.5% -2.4% 0.3% 2.2% 3.9%
2006 4.5% -0.2% 2.2% 3% -3.4% -0.2% 0.5% 1.5% 1.1% 3.5% 2% 2% 17.6%
2007 1.2% -0.5% 1.8% 4.4% 2.8% -0.8% -2.2% 1.3% 4.7% 3.1% -4.1% -0.4% 11.4%
2008 2.3% -0.2% 0.1% 0.3% -1.3% -7.1% -0.3% 0.7% -1.8% -2.3% 3% 6.7% -0.3%
2009 -2% -1.1% 1.1% 0.5% 8.5% -0.5% 8.5% 4.1% 4% -1.8% 4.1% 1.1% 29.2%
2010 -3.6% 3.1% 6.1% 1.6% -8% 0.9% 0.9% 1.3% 0% 3.5% -2.2% 5.4% 8.4%
2011 2.3% 3.5% 0% 2.9% -1.1% -1.7% -2% 2.7% 0.8% 0.1% 2.6% 1% 11.5%
2012 4.6% 4.3% 3.2% -0.7% -6% -1.7% 1% 2.5% 2.5% -1.8% 1% 2.1% 11%
2013 4.7% 0.6% 2.1% 2.4% 2.4% -1.3% 5.2% -3% 3.2% 5.7% 3.1% 2.6% 30.8%
2014 -3.5% 4.6% 0.8% 0.7% 2.3% 2.1% -1.3% 4% -1.4% 2.4% 2.8% -0.3% 13.5%
2015 -3% 5.6% -1.6% 1% -0.7% -2.7% 2.8% -6.1% -1.7% 0.1% 0% -1.7% -8.1%
2016 -5% 0.3% 0.9% 0.9% 0.1% 0.7% 3.7% 0.1% 0% -1.9% 1.7% 1.7% 2.8%
2017 1.8% 3.9% 0.1% 1.6% 2.1% 0.4% 2.4% 0.1% 2.1% 2.1% 2% 1% 21.5%
2018 5.6% -3.6% -2.7% 0.8% 0.7% 0.9% 3.7% 3.2% 0.6% -6.9% 1% 2% 4.6%
2019 0.9% 3.1% 1.8% 4.1% -6.4% 1% 0.4% -1.7% 2% 2.2% 3.6% 2.9% 14.3%
2020 -0% -7.9% -0.1% 1.7% 0.7% 0.7% 5.4% 7% -3.7% -2.5% 10.9% 4% 15.6%
2021 -0.8% 2.5% 3.7% 5.3% 0.7% 2.2% 2.4% 3% -4.7% 7% -0.8% 4.6% 27.6%
2022 -5.3% -1% -2.8% -9.6% 1.1% -1.6% 2.5% -3.3% -4.3% -1.3% 3.8% -5% -24.2%
2023 7.1% -2.6% 3% 1.6% -1% 6.8% 3.3% -1.6% -4.7% -1.4% 4.6% 4.7% 20.7%
2024 1.6% 5.2% 2.4% - - - - - - - - - 9.5%
Pos 60.7% 67.9% 67.9% 74.1% 59.3% 66.7% 74.1% 66.7% 66.7% 55.6% 78.6% 75% 82.8%
Avg 0.7% 1.2% 1.1% 1.1% 0.1% 0.7% 1.7% 0.3% 0.2% 0.5% 2% 2% 11.7%

Other Return Metrics

Metric αc International Equities II Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares
Cumulative Return 1890.91% 904.51%
Enh Ann Return 11.93% 10.82%
Best Year 42.52% 45.64%
Worst Year -24.24% -46.64%
Best Month 10.88% 12.67%
Worst Month -14.12% -21.8%
Best Day 5.77% 11.49%
Worst Day -7.25% -10.98%
Win Ratio (Yearly) 82.76% 72.41%
Win Ratio (Quarterly) 70.91% 68.18%
Win Ratio (Monthly) 67.78% 62.92%
Win Ratio (Daily) 57.13% 54.48%

Annual Volatility

Annual Volatility 1y Annual Volatility 3y Annual Volatility 5y Annual Volatility 10y Annual Volatility 20y Annual Volatility
αc International Equities II 10.57% 12.23% 13.13% 12.37% 11.07% 11.76%
Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares 13.95% 18.87% 20.97% 17.4% 19.27% 17.76%

Sharpe Ratio

Sharpe Ratio 1y Sharpe Ratio 3y Sharpe Ratio 5y Sharpe Ratio 10y Sharpe Ratio 20y Sharpe Ratio
αc International Equities II 1.96 0.59 0.79 0.73 0.98 0.99
Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares 1.66 0.25 0.56 0.57 0.5 0.56

3-Year Rolling Sharpe Ratio

The rolling Sharpe Ratio gives a clue about the continued consistency or stability of the risk-adjusted returns.

Drawdown Periods

Simply said, a drawdown is the "pain" period experienced by an investor between a peak (new highs) and subsequent valley (a low point before moving higher). In the table below are the fifth largest drawdowns encountered for the portfolios/assets in question.

αc International Equities II

start valley end days Drawdown
2022-01-04 2022-12-28 2024-03-21 807 -25.63%
2007-11-01 2008-10-10 2009-05-26 572 -20.15%
2015-05-20 2016-01-20 2017-06-01 743 -19.57%
1998-07-21 1998-09-02 1999-04-08 261 -19.23%
2020-02-20 2020-03-18 2020-08-25 187 -19.23%

The αc International Equities II took approximately 17 months on average to recover from a major drawdown. The longest drawdown lasted 27 months.

Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares

start valley end days Drawdown
2007-11-01 2009-03-09 2013-10-18 2178 -63.67%
2020-02-20 2020-03-23 2020-07-29 160 -33.23%
2021-11-17 2022-10-14 - 860 -33.02%
2002-05-20 2002-10-09 2003-08-14 451 -27.6%
1998-04-16 1998-10-05 1999-04-08 357 -22.97%

The Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares took approximately 27 months on average to recover from a major drawdown. The longest drawdown lasted 73 months.

Underwater plot

The underwater plot shows you the drawdown periods on a chart. Whereas the performance chart usually gives you a positive viewpoint, the underwater plot gives you a pessimistic viewpoint. It helps you to visualize downtrends that occurred and how long it took for the portfolio's value to rebound to hit a new high after suffering a loss.

Other Risk Metrics

Metric αc International Equities II Vanguard Global Equity Fund Investor Shares
Sharpe Ratio 0.99 0.56
Sortino Ratio 1.38 0.78
Adjusted Sortino (S/√2) 0.98 0.55
Calmar Ratio 0.45 0.14
Omega Ratio 1.22 1.11
Gain to Pain Ratio 0.22 0.11
Winckel Ratio 62.07 58.62
Ulcer Index 0.07 0.16
Kelly Criterion 10.16% 5.52%
Skew -0.75 -0.43
Kurtosis 9 11.23
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