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Any investors hoping to find an Investment Grade Bond - Short fund could think about starting with Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor (VFSTX - Free Report) . VFSTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that VFSTX is an Investment Grade Bond - Short option, which is an area loaded with different options. Investment Grade Bond - Short funds focus on the short end of the curve, generally with bonds that mature in less than two years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have low duration risk, while they also pay out small yields, at least when compared to their longer-dated peers. Additionally, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VFSTX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor made its debut in October of 1982 and VFSTX has managed to accumulate roughly $9.04 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 2.69%, and is 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 4.17%, 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, VFSTX's standard deviation comes in at 2.71%, compared to the category average of 10.96%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 2.24% compared to the category average of 9.06%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.45, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VFSTX has a positive alpha of 0.68, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VFSTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.20% compared to the category average of 0.73%. So, VFSTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor ( VFSTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor ( VFSTX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VFSTXin the Investment Grade Bond - Short category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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Is VFSTX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find an Investment Grade Bond - Short fund could think about starting with Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor (VFSTX - Free Report) . VFSTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that VFSTX is an Investment Grade Bond - Short option, which is an area loaded with different options. Investment Grade Bond - Short funds focus on the short end of the curve, generally with bonds that mature in less than two years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have low duration risk, while they also pay out small yields, at least when compared to their longer-dated peers. Additionally, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VFSTX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor made its debut in October of 1982 and VFSTX has managed to accumulate roughly $9.04 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 2.69%, and is 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 4.17%, 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, VFSTX's standard deviation comes in at 2.71%, compared to the category average of 10.96%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 2.24% compared to the category average of 9.06%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.45, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VFSTX has a positive alpha of 0.68, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VFSTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.20% compared to the category average of 0.73%. So, VFSTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor ( VFSTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Short-Term Investor Growth Income Investor ( VFSTX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VFSTXin the Investment Grade Bond - Short category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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.