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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Admiral (VWEAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. VWEAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
VWEAX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, VWEAX has garnered more than $22.27 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Michael L. Hong who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2008.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VWEAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.97% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 1.92%, 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. Over the past three years, VWEAX's standard deviation comes in at 9.64%, compared to the category average of 12.68%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.05% compared to the category average of 10.98%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.59, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VWEAX has a positive alpha of 1.94, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VWEAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.13% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, VWEAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 High-Yield Corporate Admiral ( VWEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond 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 VWEAX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is VWEAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Admiral (VWEAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. VWEAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
VWEAX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, VWEAX has garnered more than $22.27 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Michael L. Hong who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2008.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VWEAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.97% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 1.92%, 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. Over the past three years, VWEAX's standard deviation comes in at 9.64%, compared to the category average of 12.68%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.05% compared to the category average of 10.98%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.59, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VWEAX has a positive alpha of 1.94, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VWEAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.13% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, VWEAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 High-Yield Corporate Admiral ( VWEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond 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 VWEAX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.