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Is Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining (VGPMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining (VGPMX - Free Report) . VGPMX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VGPMX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining made its debut in May of 1984, and since then, VGPMX has accumulated about $1.36 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Keith White is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2018.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 3.05%, and is in the bottom 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 16.99%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 17.74%, the standard deviation of VGPMX over the past three years is 19.08%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.5% compared to the category average of 15.48%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.83, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. VGPMX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -9.02, which means 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, VGPMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.35% compared to the category average of 1.34%. From a cost perspective, VGPMX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining ( VGPMX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into VGPMX too 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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