The information ratio is a fund's return above its benchmark divided by its tracking error, showing how steadily it has beaten the index.
The information ratio measures how much extra return a fund earned for each unit of risk it took by straying from its benchmark.
In words: take the fund's average return above the benchmark, and divide it by the tracking error, the variation in that gap.
For example, a fund beat its benchmark by 2 percentage points a year with a tracking error of 4%. Its information ratio is 0.5. Another fund beat the same benchmark by 2 points with a tracking error of 8%. Its ratio is 0.25. The result was the same, but the second fund got there with much bigger swings away from the index.
The Sharpe ratio is similar but measures return above a risk-free rate against total volatility. The information ratio measures a fund against its own market.
The figure is most useful for comparing actively managed funds in the same category over the same period.
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