Any investors who are searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds should take a look at Vanguard Small-Cap Growth Index Admiral (VSGAX Quick QuoteVSGAX - Free Report) . VSGAX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is responsible for VSGAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Small-Cap Growth Index Admiral made its debut in September of 2011, VSGAX has garnered more than $12.33 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Gerard O'Reilly who has been in charge of the fund since September of 2011.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VSGAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.65% and is 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 2.82%, 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. The standard deviation of VSGAX over the past three years is 25.32% compared to the category average of 19.7%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 22.71% compared to the category average of 17.5%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.13, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.52. This means 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 90.43% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $5.47 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Technology
2. Health
3. Industrial Cyclical
4. Other
5. Finance

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, VSGAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.07% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VSGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

Bottom Line

This could just be the start of your research on VSGAXin 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.