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Is Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Investor (VTSMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Are you on the hunt for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Investor (VTSMX - 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
VTSMX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Investor made its debut in April of 1992, VTSMX has garnered more than $20.20 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Gerard O'Reilly who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VTSMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.99% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 12.31%, 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. The standard deviation of VTSMX over the past three years is 20.01% compared to the category average of 16.03%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.95% compared to the category average of 14.39%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. VTSMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.99, demonstrating that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 99.44% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $350.12 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 4%, so the fund managers are 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, VTSMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, VTSMX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VTSMXin 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Investor (VTSMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Are you on the hunt for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Investor (VTSMX - 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
VTSMX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Investor made its debut in April of 1992, VTSMX has garnered more than $20.20 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Gerard O'Reilly who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VTSMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.99% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 12.31%, 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. The standard deviation of VTSMX over the past three years is 20.01% compared to the category average of 16.03%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.95% compared to the category average of 14.39%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. VTSMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.99, demonstrating that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 99.44% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $350.12 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 4%, so the fund managers are 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, VTSMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, VTSMX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VTSMXin 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.