This portfolio backtesting tool allows you to construct one or more portfolios based on the selected asset class level allocations in order to analyze and backtest portfolio returns, risk characteristics, drawdowns, and rolling returns. You can compare up to three different portfolios against the selected benchmark, and you can also specify any periodic contribution or withdrawal cashflows and the preferred portfolio rebalancing strategy.
You can also use the portfolio backtesting tool to build and compare portfolios based on specific mutual funds, ETFs, and stocks.
Trailing return and volatility are as of last full calendar month ending December 2019
Notes on results:
IMPORTANT: The projections or other information generated by Portfolio Visualizer regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. Results may vary with each use and over time.
The results do not constitute investment advice or recommendation, are provided solely for informational purposes, and are not an offer to buy or sell any securities. All use is subject to terms of service.
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Asset allocation and diversification strategies do not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss.
Hypothetical returns do not reflect trading costs, transaction fees, commissions, or actual taxes due on investment returns.
The results are based on information from a variety of sources we consider reliable, but we do not represent that the information is accurate or complete.
Portfolio model information represents a blended portfolio consisting of the model's underlying positions and assigned weights provided by the user and rebalanced at the specified schedule. The results were constructed using net of fee mutual fund performance. Portfolio Visualizer does not provide preferential treatment to any specific security or investment.
The results are based on the total return of assets and assume that all received dividends and distributions are reinvested.
Compound annualized growth rate (CAGR) is the annualized geometric mean return of the portfolio. It is calculated from the portfolio start and end balance and is thus impacted by any cashflows.
The time-weighted rate of return (TWRR) is a measure of the compound rate of growth in a portfolio. This is calculated from the holding period returns (e.g. monthly returns), and TWRR will thus not be impacted by cashflows. If there are no external cashflows, TWRR will equal CAGR.
The money-weighted rate of return (MWRR) is the internal rate of return (IRR) taking into account cashflows. This is the discount rate at which the present value of cash inflows equals the present value of cash outflows.
Standard deviation (Stdev) is used to measure the dispersion of returns around the mean and is often used as a measure of risk. A higher standard deviation implies greater the dispersion of data points around the mean.
Sharpe Ratio is a measure of risk-adjusted performance of the portfolio, and it is calculated by dividing the mean monthly excess return of the portfolio over the risk-free rate by the standard deviation of excess return, and the displayed value is annualized.
Sortino Ratio is a measure of risk-adjusted return which is a modification of the Sharpe Ratio. While the latter is the ratio of average returns in excess of a risk-free rate divided by the standard deviation of those excess returns, the Sortino Ratio has the same denominator divided by the standard deviation of returns below the risk-free rate.
Treynor Ratio is a measure of risk-adjusted performance of the portfolio. It is similar to the Sharpe Ratio, but it uses portfolio beta (systematic risk) as the risk metric in the denominator.
Calmar Ratio is a measure of risk-adjusted performance of the portfolio. It is calculated as the annualized return over the past 36 months divided by the maximum drawdown over the past 36 months based on monthly returns.
Risk-free returns are calculated based on the Federal Reserve 3-Month Treasury Bill (secondary market) rates.
Downside deviation measures the downside volatility of the portfolio returns unlike standard deviation, which includes both upside and downside deviations. Downside deviation is calculated based on negative returns that hurt the portfolio performance.
Correlation measures to what degree the returns of the two assets move in relation to each other. Correlation coefficient is a numerical value between -1 and +1. If one variable goes up by a certain amount, the correlation coefficient indicates which way the other variable moves and by how much. Asset correlations are calculated based on monthly returns.
Skewness is a measure of the asymmetry of the probability distribution or returns from a normal Gaussian distribution shape about its mean. Negative skewness is associated with the left (typically negative returns) tail of the distribution extending further than the right tail; and positive skewness is associated with the right (typically positive returns) tail of the distribution extending further than the left tail.
Excess kurtosis is a measure of whether a data distribution is peaked or flat relative to a normal distribution. Distributions with high kurtosis tend to have a distinct peak near the mean, decline rather rapidly, and have heavy or fat tails.
A drawdown refers to the decline in value of a single investment or an investment portfolio from a relative peak value to a relative trough. A maximum drawdown (Max Drawdown) is the maximum observed loss from a peak to a trough of a portfolio before a new peak is attained. Drawdown values are calculated based on monthly returns.
Value at Risk (VaR) measures the scale of loss at a given confidence level. If the 5% VaR is -3% the portfolio return is expected to be greater than -3% 95% of the time and less than -3% 5% of the time. Value at Risk can be calculated directly based on historical returns based on a given percentile or analytically based on the mean and standard deviation of the returns.
Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) measures the scale of the expected loss once the specific Value at Risk (VaR) breakpoint has been breached, i.e., it calculates the average tail loss by taking a weighted average between the value at risk and losses exceeding the value at risk.
Beta is a measure of systematic risk and measures the volatility of a particular investment relative to the market or its benchmark. Alpha measures the active return of the investment compared to the market benchmark return. R-squared is the percentage of a portfolio's movements that can be explained by movements in the selected benchmark index.
Active return is the investment return minus the return of its benchmark. For periods longer than 12 months this is displayed as annualized value, i.e., annualized investment return minus annualized benchmark return.
Tracking error, also known as active risk, is the standard deviation of active return. This is displayed as annualized value based on the standard deviation of monthly active returns.
Information ratio is the active return divided by the tracking error. It measures whether the investment outperformed its benchmark consistently.
Gain/Loss ratio is a measure of downside risk, and it is calculated as the average positive return in up periods divided by the average negative return in down periods.
Upside Capture Ratio measures how well the fund performed relative to the benchmark when the market was up, and Downside Capture Ratio measures how well the fund performed relative to the benchmark when the market was down. An upside capture ratio greater than 100 would indicate that the fund outperformed its benchmark when the market was up, and a downside capture ratio below 100 would indicate that the fund lost less than its benchmark when the market was down. To calculate upside capture ratio a new series from the portfolio returns is constructed by dropping all time periods where the benchmark return is less than equal to zero. The up capture is then the quotient of the annualized return of the resulting manager series, divided by the annualized return of the resulting benchmark series. The downside capture ratio is calculated analogously.
All risk measures for the portfolio and portfolio assets are calculated based on monthly returns.
The results assume annual rebalancing of portfolio assets to match the specified allocation.
Annual returns for the configured portfolios
Year
Inflation
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
Return
Balance
Return
Balance
2003
1.88%
31.35%
$13,135
45.63%
$14,563
31.35%
45.63%
2004
3.26%
12.52%
$14,779
19.90%
$17,460
12.52%
19.90%
2005
3.42%
5.98%
$15,663
7.36%
$18,746
5.98%
7.36%
2006
2.54%
15.51%
$18,093
15.66%
$21,681
15.51%
15.66%
2007
4.08%
5.49%
$19,086
1.16%
$21,931
5.49%
1.16%
2008
0.09%
-37.04%
$12,017
-36.07%
$14,021
-37.04%
-36.07%
2009
2.72%
28.70%
$15,466
36.12%
$19,085
28.70%
36.12%
2010
1.50%
17.09%
$18,109
27.72%
$24,375
17.09%
27.72%
2011
2.96%
0.96%
$18,283
-2.80%
$23,691
0.96%
-2.80%
2012
1.74%
16.25%
$21,255
18.04%
$27,966
16.25%
18.04%
2013
1.50%
33.35%
$28,344
37.62%
$38,487
33.35%
37.62%
2014
0.76%
12.43%
$31,867
7.37%
$41,323
12.43%
7.37%
2015
0.73%
0.29%
$31,960
-3.78%
$39,760
0.29%
-3.78%
2016
2.07%
12.53%
$35,965
18.17%
$46,985
12.53%
18.17%
2017
2.11%
21.05%
$43,536
16.10%
$54,551
21.05%
16.10%
2018
1.91%
-5.26%
$41,248
-9.43%
$49,407
-5.26%
-9.43%
2019
2.29%
30.65%
$53,890
27.22%
$62,855
30.65%
27.22%
Portfolio return and risk metrics
Metric
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
Arithmetic Mean (monthly)
0.91%
1.04%
Arithmetic Mean (annualized)
11.48%
13.18%
Geometric Mean (monthly)
0.83%
0.91%
Geometric Mean (annualized)
10.42%
11.42%
Standard Deviation (monthly)
4.00%
5.11%
Standard Deviation (annualized)
13.85%
17.71%
Downside Deviation (monthly)
2.68%
3.38%
Maximum Drawdown
-50.89%
-53.95%
Stock Market Correlation
1.00
0.95
Beta(*)
1.00
1.22
Alpha (annualized)
0.00%
-0.86%
R2
100.00%
90.91%
Sharpe Ratio
0.69
0.63
Sortino Ratio
1.02
0.94
Treynor Ratio (%)
9.63
9.15
Calmar Ratio
1.01
0.52
Active Return
0.00%
1.00%
Tracking Error
0.00%
6.14%
Information Ratio
N/A
0.16
Skewness
-0.81
-0.53
Excess Kurtosis
2.33
2.08
Historical Value-at-Risk (5%)
-6.42%
-7.78%
Analytical Value-at-Risk (5%)
-5.67%
-7.37%
Conditional Value-at-Risk (5%)
-9.14%
-11.08%
Upside Capture Ratio (%)
100.00
121.37
Downside Capture Ratio (%)
100.00
123.16
Safe Withdrawal Rate
10.36%
12.70%
Perpetual Withdrawal Rate
7.54%
8.38%
Positive Periods
140 out of 204 (68.63%)
134 out of 204 (65.69%)
Gain/Loss Ratio
0.82
0.89
* US stock market is used as the benchmark for calculations. Value-at-risk metrics are based on monthly values.
Drawdowns for Historical Market Stress Periods
Drawdowns for Historical Market Stress Periods
Stress Period
Start
End
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
Subprime Crisis
Nov 2007
Mar 2009
-50.89%
-53.25%
Drawdowns for US Stock Market
Drawdowns for US Stock Market (worst 10)
Rank
Start
End
Length
Recovery By
Recovery Time
Underwater Period
Drawdown
1
Nov 2007
Feb 2009
1 year 4 months
Mar 2012
3 years 1 month
4 years 5 months
-50.89%
2
Oct 2018
Dec 2018
3 months
Apr 2019
4 months
7 months
-14.28%
3
Jun 2015
Sep 2015
4 months
May 2016
8 months
1 year
-8.88%
4
Apr 2012
May 2012
2 months
Aug 2012
3 months
5 months
-6.85%
5
May 2019
May 2019
1 month
Jun 2019
1 month
2 months
-6.45%
6
Feb 2018
Mar 2018
2 months
Jul 2018
4 months
6 months
-5.64%
7
Jun 2007
Jul 2007
2 months
Oct 2007
3 months
5 months
-5.02%
8
Jan 2005
Apr 2005
4 months
Jul 2005
3 months
7 months
-4.66%
9
Jan 2003
Feb 2003
2 months
Apr 2003
2 months
4 months
-4.19%
10
Jul 2004
Jul 2004
1 month
Nov 2004
4 months
5 months
-3.80%
Worst 10 drawdowns included above
Drawdowns for US Small Cap
Drawdowns for US Small Cap (worst 10)
Rank
Start
End
Length
Recovery By
Recovery Time
Underwater Period
Drawdown
1
Jun 2007
Feb 2009
1 year 9 months
Dec 2010
1 year 10 months
3 years 7 months
-53.95%
2
May 2011
Sep 2011
5 months
Dec 2012
1 year 3 months
1 year 8 months
-24.56%
3
Sep 2018
Dec 2018
4 months
Nov 2019
11 months
1 year 3 months
-19.62%
4
Jun 2015
Jan 2016
8 months
Jul 2016
6 months
1 year 2 months
-15.41%
5
Jan 2005
Apr 2005
4 months
Jun 2005
2 months
6 months
-8.23%
6
May 2006
Jul 2006
3 months
Nov 2006
4 months
7 months
-7.91%
7
Jul 2004
Aug 2004
2 months
Nov 2004
3 months
5 months
-6.21%
8
Jan 2003
Feb 2003
2 months
Apr 2003
2 months
4 months
-5.68%
9
Jul 2014
Sep 2014
3 months
Dec 2014
3 months
6 months
-5.51%
10
Apr 2004
Apr 2004
1 month
Jun 2004
2 months
3 months
-4.77%
Worst 10 drawdowns included above
Portfolio Assets
Performance statistics for portfolio components
Name
CAGR
Stdev
Best Year
Worst Year
Max Drawdown
Sharpe Ratio
Sortino Ratio
Market Correlation
US Stock Market
10.42%
13.85%
33.35%
-37.04%
-50.89%
0.69
1.02
1.00
US Small Cap
11.42%
17.71%
45.63%
-36.07%
-53.95%
0.63
0.94
0.95
Portfolio Asset Performance
Performance of portfolio assets
Name
Total Return
Annualized Return
3 Month
Year To Date
1 year
3 year
5 year
10 year
US Stock Market
8.97%
30.65%
30.65%
14.43%
11.08%
13.30%
US Small Cap
8.11%
27.22%
27.22%
10.19%
8.75%
12.66%
Trailing returns as of last calendar month ending December 2019
Monthly Correlations
Correlations for the portfolio assets
Name
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
US Stock Market
1.00
0.95
1.00
0.95
US Small Cap
0.95
1.00
0.95
1.00
Portfolio Return Decomposition
Portfolio return decomposition
Name
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
US Stock Market
$43,890
US Small Cap
$52,855
Return attribution decomposes portfolio gains into its constituent parts and identifies the contribution to returns by each of the assets.
Portfolio Risk Decomposition
Portfolio risk decomposition
Name
US Stock Market
US Small Cap
US Stock Market
100.00%
US Small Cap
100.00%
Risk attribution decomposes portfolio risk into its constituent parts and identifies the contribution to overall volatility by each of the assets.