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Is Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor (VMMSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Non US - Equity category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor (VMMSX - Free Report) . VMMSX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VMMSX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VMMSX. Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor debuted in June of 2011. Since then, VMMSX has accumulated assets of about $670.90 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.71%, and is 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 11.1%, 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. Over the past three years, VMMSX's standard deviation comes in at 13.76%, compared to the category average of 12.2%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16% compared to the category average of 13.02%. This makes the fund more 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.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.91, 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 -5.95, 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, VMMSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.20%. From a cost perspective, VMMSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor ( VMMSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Want even more information about VMMSX? 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor (VMMSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Non US - Equity category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor (VMMSX - Free Report) . VMMSX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VMMSX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VMMSX. Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor debuted in June of 2011. Since then, VMMSX has accumulated assets of about $670.90 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.71%, and is 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 11.1%, 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. Over the past three years, VMMSX's standard deviation comes in at 13.76%, compared to the category average of 12.2%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16% compared to the category average of 13.02%. This makes the fund more 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.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.91, 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 -5.95, 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, VMMSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.20%. From a cost perspective, VMMSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Emerging Markets Select Stock Investor ( VMMSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Want even more information about VMMSX? 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.