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Is Vanguard Energy Investor (VGENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Energy Investor (VGENX - Free Report) as a possible option. VGENX holds 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
Vanguard Group is responsible for VGENX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Energy Investor made its debut in May of 1984 and VGENX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.78 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. G. Thomas Levering is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2020.
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 0.56%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.46%, which places it in the bottom 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. VGENX's standard deviation over the past three years is 27.29% compared to the category average of 30.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 24.55% compared to the category average of 26.25%. 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. VGENX has a 5-year beta of 1.07, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -8.89. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VGENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.41% compared to the category average of 1.44%. From a cost perspective, VGENX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Energy Investor ( VGENX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Energy Investor ( VGENX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VGENXin 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. 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 Vanguard Energy Investor (VGENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Energy Investor (VGENX - Free Report) as a possible option. VGENX holds 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
Vanguard Group is responsible for VGENX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Energy Investor made its debut in May of 1984 and VGENX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.78 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. G. Thomas Levering is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2020.
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 0.56%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.46%, which places it in the bottom 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. VGENX's standard deviation over the past three years is 27.29% compared to the category average of 30.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 24.55% compared to the category average of 26.25%. 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. VGENX has a 5-year beta of 1.07, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -8.89. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VGENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.41% compared to the category average of 1.44%. From a cost perspective, VGENX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Energy Investor ( VGENX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Energy Investor ( VGENX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VGENXin 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. 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.