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Is Vanguard Tax-Managed Cap Appreciation Institutional (VTCIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? Vanguard Tax-Managed Cap Appreciation Institutional (VTCIX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. VTCIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

VTCIX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is responsible for VTCIX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Tax-Managed Cap Appreciation Institutional made its debut in February of 1999 and VTCIX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.80 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by William Coleman who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VTCIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 18% and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 19.2%, 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. VTCIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.12% compared to the category average of 16.98%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.42% compared to the category average of 13.97%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.02, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. VTCIX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 0.18, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 90.11% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $262.66 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Finance
  3. Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 6%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VTCIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.06% compared to the category average of 1.03%. So, VTCIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $5 million; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Tax-Managed Cap Appreciation Institutional ( VTCIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Tax-Managed Cap Appreciation Institutional ( VTCIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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