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Is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Utilities category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
We classify VUIAX in the Sector - Utilities category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Sector - Utilities funds focus their investments on firms that provide essential daily services to millions of people like electric power, gas distribution, and water supply. All in all, the utility industry is a perfect fit for those investors looking for stability and low volatility.
History of Fund/Manager
VUIAX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, VUIAX has garnered more than $1.28 billion in assets. Michael Johnson is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.46%, and is in the bottom 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 9.21%, 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. Compared to the category average of 16.77%, the standard deviation of VUIAX over the past three years is 13.7%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.52% compared to the category average of 14.11%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.37, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 2.21. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VUIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.23%. So, VUIAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VUIAX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Utilities category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
We classify VUIAX in the Sector - Utilities category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Sector - Utilities funds focus their investments on firms that provide essential daily services to millions of people like electric power, gas distribution, and water supply. All in all, the utility industry is a perfect fit for those investors looking for stability and low volatility.
History of Fund/Manager
VUIAX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, VUIAX has garnered more than $1.28 billion in assets. Michael Johnson is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.46%, and is in the bottom 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 9.21%, 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. Compared to the category average of 16.77%, the standard deviation of VUIAX over the past three years is 13.7%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.52% compared to the category average of 14.11%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.37, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 2.21. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VUIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.23%. So, VUIAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VUIAX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.