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Is Vanguard Consumer Discret Index Admiral (VCDAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Have you been searching for a Large Cap Growth fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Consumer Discret Index Admiral (VCDAX - Free Report) . VCDAX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
We classify VCDAX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
VCDAX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Consumer Discret Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004 and VCDAX has managed to accumulate roughly $327.05 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Michael A. Johnson, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.76%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 13.89%, which places it in the bottom 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 VCDAX over the past three years is 14.84% compared to the category average of 13.54%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.23% compared to the category average of 13.3%. This makes the fund more 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. VCDAX lost 53.95% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 5%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.12, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.35, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VCDAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.05%. VCDAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth 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 VCDAX to its peers as well 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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Is Vanguard Consumer Discret Index Admiral (VCDAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Have you been searching for a Large Cap Growth fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Consumer Discret Index Admiral (VCDAX - Free Report) . VCDAX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
We classify VCDAX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
VCDAX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Consumer Discret Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004 and VCDAX has managed to accumulate roughly $327.05 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Michael A. Johnson, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.76%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 13.89%, which places it in the bottom 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 VCDAX over the past three years is 14.84% compared to the category average of 13.54%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.23% compared to the category average of 13.3%. This makes the fund more 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. VCDAX lost 53.95% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 5%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.12, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.35, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VCDAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.05%. VCDAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth 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 VCDAX to its peers as well 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.