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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral (VCOBX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VCOBX holds 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
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VCOBX. Since Vanguard Core Bond Admiral made its debut in March of 2016, VCOBX has garnered more than $6.23 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VCOBX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.04% and is 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 -2.94%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.14%, the standard deviation of VCOBX over the past three years is 5.81%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.04% compared to the category average of 9.73%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
VCOBX carries a beta of 1.03, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.58, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VCOBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.77%. From a cost perspective, VCOBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral ( VCOBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong 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 VCOBX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is VCOBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral (VCOBX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VCOBX holds 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
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VCOBX. Since Vanguard Core Bond Admiral made its debut in March of 2016, VCOBX has garnered more than $6.23 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VCOBX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.04% and is 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 -2.94%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.14%, the standard deviation of VCOBX over the past three years is 5.81%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.04% compared to the category average of 9.73%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
VCOBX carries a beta of 1.03, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.58, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VCOBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.77%. From a cost perspective, VCOBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral ( VCOBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong 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 VCOBX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.