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Is Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Allocation Balanced fund category, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VASGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Zacks' Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as VASGX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VASGX. Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund made its debut in September of 1994, and since then, VASGX has accumulated about $20.80 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.77%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 13.2%, 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. VASGX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.89% compared to the category average of 15.75%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 11.99% compared to the category average of 12.76%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.77, which means 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. With a negative alpha of -1.03, 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, VASGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.89%. So, VASGX 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
Overall, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) 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 Allocation Balanced, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Allocation Balanced fund category, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VASGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Zacks' Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as VASGX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VASGX. Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund made its debut in September of 1994, and since then, VASGX has accumulated about $20.80 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.77%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 13.2%, 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. VASGX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.89% compared to the category average of 15.75%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 11.99% compared to the category average of 12.76%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.77, which means 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. With a negative alpha of -1.03, 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, VASGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.89%. So, VASGX 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
Overall, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) 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 Allocation Balanced, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.