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Is Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Investors in search of a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX - 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 VFIAX. Since Vanguard 500 Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2000, VFIAX has garnered more than $395.58 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Donald Butler, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.79%, and it sits in the top 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 13.32%, 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, VFIAX's standard deviation comes in at 19.27%, compared to the category average of 16.51%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.36% compared to the category average of 14.86%. 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. VFIAX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0, which shows 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.
This fund is currently holding about 98.81% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $415.23 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Retail Trade
Turnover is 2%, which means, on average, the fund makes 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, VFIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.79%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VFIAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into VFIAX too 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 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Investors in search of a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX - 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 VFIAX. Since Vanguard 500 Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2000, VFIAX has garnered more than $395.58 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Donald Butler, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.79%, and it sits in the top 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 13.32%, 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, VFIAX's standard deviation comes in at 19.27%, compared to the category average of 16.51%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.36% compared to the category average of 14.86%. 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. VFIAX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0, which shows 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.
This fund is currently holding about 98.81% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $415.23 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Retail Trade
Turnover is 2%, which means, on average, the fund makes 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, VFIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.79%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VFIAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into VFIAX too 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.