Calmar Ratio


DEFINITION of 'Calmar Ratio'

A comparison of the average annual compounded rate of return and the maximum drawdown risk of commodity trading advisors and hedge funds. The lower the Calmar Ratio, the worse the investment performed on a risk-adjusted basis over the specified time period; the higher the Calmar Ratio, the better it performed. Generally speaking, the time period used is three years, but this can be higher or lower based on the investment in question.


Developed by Terry W. Young in 1991, the Calmar Ratio is short for California Managed Account Reports. The ratio is very similar to the MAR Ratio, which was formulated much earlier. The only difference is that the MAR Ratio is based on data produced from the inception of the investment, whereas the Calmar Ratio is typically based on more recent and shorter-term data. Regardless of which ratio is used, investors gain better insight as to the risk of various investments.

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