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Is Vanguard Financials Index Admiral (VFAIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Financials Index Admiral (VFAIX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VFAIX. Vanguard Financials Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, and since then, VFAIX has accumulated about $920.12 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, William Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2015.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.44%, and it sits in the top 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 16.6%, 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. The standard deviation of VFAIX over the past three years is 23.88% compared to the category average of 26.11%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.86% compared to the category average of 22.15%. This makes the fund less 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. VFAIX has a 5-year beta of 1.15, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 -5, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 79.45% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $158.38 billion. This fund's turnover is about 4%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, VFAIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.47%. From a cost perspective, VFAIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VFAIXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. 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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Is Vanguard Financials Index Admiral (VFAIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Financials Index Admiral (VFAIX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VFAIX. Vanguard Financials Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, and since then, VFAIX has accumulated about $920.12 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, William Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2015.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.44%, and it sits in the top 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 16.6%, 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. The standard deviation of VFAIX over the past three years is 23.88% compared to the category average of 26.11%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.86% compared to the category average of 22.15%. This makes the fund less 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. VFAIX has a 5-year beta of 1.15, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 -5, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 79.45% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $158.38 billion. This fund's turnover is about 4%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, VFAIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.47%. From a cost perspective, VFAIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VFAIXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. 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.