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Is Vanguard Wellington Admiral (VWENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be Vanguard Wellington Admiral (VWENX - Free Report) . VWENX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VWENX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Wellington Admiral made its debut in May of 2001 and VWENX has managed to accumulate roughly $89.64 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Loren Moran, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2017.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6%, and it sits in the top 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 4.13%, 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 15.8%, the standard deviation of VWENX over the past three years is 14.59%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.44% compared to the category average of 13.77%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.65, so it is likely going to be less volatile than 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. VWENX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.81, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, VWENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.16% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, VWENX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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 Wellington Admiral ( VWENX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Wellington Admiral ( VWENX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

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 VWENX 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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