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Is Vanguard Industrials Index Admiral (VINAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Large Cap Blend funds, consider Vanguard Industrials Index Admiral (VINAX - Free Report) as a possibility. 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

VINAX 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

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VINAX. The Vanguard Industrials Index Admiral made its debut in September of 2004 and VINAX has managed to accumulate roughly $330.70 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2015.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 14.98%, and is in the middle 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 15.06%, 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 VINAX over the past three years is 24.3% compared to the category average of 16.67%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.75% compared to the category average of 13.92%. 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 1.22, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.68, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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.

Right now, 90.28% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $57.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Industrial Cyclical
  2. Technology
Turnover is 6%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, VINAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.95%. From a cost perspective, VINAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Your research on the Large Cap Blend segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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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