We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is Vanguard Institutional Index Fund (VINIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Institutional Index Fund (VINIX - Free Report) as a possible option. VINIX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VINIX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Institutional Index Fund made its debut in July of 1990, and since then, VINIX has accumulated about $120.59 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Donald M. Butler who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2000.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 16.75%, 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 20.69%, 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, VINIX's standard deviation comes in at 17.57%, compared to the category average of 16.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.72% compared to the category average of 14.19%. 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. VINIX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 0.01. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
Right now, 96.99% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $380.25 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
Finance
With turnover at about 4%, this fund is making fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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, VINIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.77%. VINIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $5 million; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is Vanguard Institutional Index Fund (VINIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Institutional Index Fund (VINIX - Free Report) as a possible option. VINIX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VINIX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Institutional Index Fund made its debut in July of 1990, and since then, VINIX has accumulated about $120.59 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Donald M. Butler who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2000.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 16.75%, 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 20.69%, 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, VINIX's standard deviation comes in at 17.57%, compared to the category average of 16.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.72% compared to the category average of 14.19%. 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. VINIX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 0.01. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
Right now, 96.99% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $380.25 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
- Finance
With turnover at about 4%, this fund is making fewer trades than its comparable peers.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, VINIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.77%. VINIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $5 million; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.