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Is Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund (VTTHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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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 2035 Fund (VTTHX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
VTTHX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund made its debut in October of 2003 and VTTHX has managed to accumulate roughly $39.45 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, William Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2013.
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 7.92%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.97%, 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 13.48%, the standard deviation of VTTHX over the past three years is 13.34%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.13% compared to the category average of 11.42%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VTTHX has a 5-year beta of 0.74, which means it is likely to be less 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. VTTHX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.06, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VTTHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.50%. VTTHX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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 VTTHX? 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund (VTTHX) 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 2035 Fund (VTTHX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
VTTHX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund made its debut in October of 2003 and VTTHX has managed to accumulate roughly $39.45 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, William Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2013.
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 7.92%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.97%, 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 13.48%, the standard deviation of VTTHX over the past three years is 13.34%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.13% compared to the category average of 11.42%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VTTHX has a 5-year beta of 0.74, which means it is likely to be less 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. VTTHX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.06, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VTTHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.50%. VTTHX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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 VTTHX? 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.