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Is Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral (VGIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Large Cap Blend funds, a place to start could be Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral (VGIAX - Free Report) . VGIAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VGIAX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
VGIAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral made its debut in May of 2001 and VGIAX has managed to accumulate roughly $9.15 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is 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 14.63%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 13.48%, 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 VGIAX over the past three years is 19.15% compared to the category average of 17.14%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.56% compared to the category average of 14.33%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.02, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. VGIAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.7, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 98.28% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $274.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Retail Trade
With turnover at about 58%, this fund makes more trades in a given year than the category average.
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, VGIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.22% compared to the category average of 0.97%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VGIAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $50,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral ( VGIAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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 Growth & Income Admiral (VGIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Large Cap Blend funds, a place to start could be Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral (VGIAX - Free Report) . VGIAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VGIAX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
VGIAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral made its debut in May of 2001 and VGIAX has managed to accumulate roughly $9.15 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is 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 14.63%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 13.48%, 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 VGIAX over the past three years is 19.15% compared to the category average of 17.14%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.56% compared to the category average of 14.33%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.02, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. VGIAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.7, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 98.28% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $274.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Retail Trade
With turnover at about 58%, this fund makes more trades in a given year than the category average.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, VGIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.22% compared to the category average of 0.97%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VGIAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $50,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Growth & Income Admiral ( VGIAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.