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Is Vanguard Developed Markets Index Admiral (VTMGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Investors in search of a Non US - Equity fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard Developed Markets Index Admiral (VTMGX - Free Report) . VTMGX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

Objective

We classify VTMGX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.

History of Fund/Manager

VTMGX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Developed Markets Index Admiral made its debut in August of 1999, VTMGX has garnered more than $24.04 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Christine Franquin, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2013.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.62%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.98%, which places it in the bottom 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. The standard deviation of VTMGX over the past three years is 18.61% compared to the category average of 15.42%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.25% compared to the category average of 12.82%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VTMGX has a 5-year beta of 0.9, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. VTMGX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -4.04, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, VTMGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.07% compared to the category average of 1.18%. So, VTMGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Want even more information about VTMGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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