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Is Vanguard International Value Fund (VTRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with Vanguard International Value Fund (VTRIX - Free Report) is one possibility. VTRIX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify VTRIX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VTRIX. Vanguard International Value Fund debuted in May of 1983. Since then, VTRIX has accumulated assets of about $10.14 billion, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.2%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.14%, 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 VTRIX over the past three years is 10.17% compared to the category average of 12.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.93% compared to the category average of 13.02%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. VTRIX lost 55.91% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 2.55%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, 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. With a negative alpha of -7.05, 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, VTRIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 1.20%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VTRIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard International Value Fund ( VTRIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

Want even more information about VTRIX? 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.


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