We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund (VTTVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
There are plenty of choices in the Target Date category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund (VTTVX - Free Report) . 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
Vanguard Group is responsible for VTTVX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund made its debut in October of 2003 and VTTVX has managed to accumulate roughly $41.78 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, William A. Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.08%, 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 8.2%, 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. The standard deviation of VTTVX over the past three years is 6.48% compared to the category average of 7.46%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 7.15% compared to the category average of 8.09%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, VTTVX lost 42.5% and outperformed its peer group by 3.14%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.61, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. VTTVX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.84, which means 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, VTTVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.47%. So, VTTVX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VTTVX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund (VTTVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Target Date category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund (VTTVX - Free Report) . 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
Vanguard Group is responsible for VTTVX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund made its debut in October of 2003 and VTTVX has managed to accumulate roughly $41.78 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, William A. Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.08%, 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 8.2%, 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. The standard deviation of VTTVX over the past three years is 6.48% compared to the category average of 7.46%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 7.15% compared to the category average of 8.09%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, VTTVX lost 42.5% and outperformed its peer group by 3.14%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.61, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. VTTVX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.84, which means 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, VTTVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.47%. So, VTTVX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VTTVX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.