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Is Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Sector - Health fund category, a potential starting could be Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX - Free Report) . VGHAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes VGHAX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VGHAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Health Care Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, and since then, VGHAX has accumulated about $39.23 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Jean M. Hynes, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2008.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.4%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.16%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Over the past three years, VGHAX's standard deviation comes in at 16.24%, compared to the category average of 17.14%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.35% compared to the category average of 14.9%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.73, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.61. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VGHAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.26% compared to the category average of 1.34%. VGHAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $50,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Sector - Health fund category, a potential starting could be Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX - Free Report) . VGHAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes VGHAX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VGHAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Health Care Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, and since then, VGHAX has accumulated about $39.23 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Jean M. Hynes, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2008.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.4%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.16%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Over the past three years, VGHAX's standard deviation comes in at 16.24%, compared to the category average of 17.14%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.35% compared to the category average of 14.9%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.73, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.61. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VGHAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.26% compared to the category average of 1.34%. VGHAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $50,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.