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Is Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX - Free Report) as a possibility. While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
VITPX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus made its debut in May of 2001, and since then, VITPX has accumulated about $23.25 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Walter Nejman who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VITPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.83% and is 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 9.71%, 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. Compared to the category average of 18.73%, the standard deviation of VITPX over the past three years is 21.43%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.94% compared to the category average of 16.56%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. With a negative alpha of -0.7, 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 99.61% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $273.70 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Turnover is 10%, which means this fund makes 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, VITPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.02% compared to the category average of 0.92%. From a cost perspective, VITPX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $100 million and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VITPX to its peers as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX - Free Report) as a possibility. While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
VITPX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus made its debut in May of 2001, and since then, VITPX has accumulated about $23.25 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Walter Nejman who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VITPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.83% and is 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 9.71%, 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. Compared to the category average of 18.73%, the standard deviation of VITPX over the past three years is 21.43%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.94% compared to the category average of 16.56%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. With a negative alpha of -0.7, 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 99.61% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $273.70 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
Turnover is 10%, which means this fund makes 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, VITPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.02% compared to the category average of 0.92%. From a cost perspective, VITPX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $100 million and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VITPX to its peers as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.