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Is Vanguard Wellington Admiral (VWENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at Vanguard Wellington Admiral (VWENX - Free Report) . VWENX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VWENX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Wellington Admiral made its debut in May of 2001, and since then, VWENX has accumulated about $90.99 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Loren L. Moran who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2017.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.2%, and it sits 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 6.26%, 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, VWENX's standard deviation comes in at 12.74%, compared to the category average of 14.07%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.16% compared to the category average of 12.54%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.64, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -0.59, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VWENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.16% compared to the category average of 0.86%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VWENX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $50,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Wellington Admiral ( VWENX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Wellington Admiral ( VWENX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about VWENX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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