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Is Vanguard Small-Cap Index Investor (NAESX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Have you been searching for an Index fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Small-Cap Index Investor (NAESX - 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
NAESX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Small-Cap Index Investor made its debut in March of 1975, and since then, NAESX has accumulated about $683.98 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by William Coleman who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 13.84%, and is 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 11.85%, 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. NAESX's standard deviation over the past three years is 24.75% compared to the category average of 17.76%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.99% compared to the category average of 14.66%. This makes the fund more 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. NAESX has a 5-year beta of 1.2, which means it 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 negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.84, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 88.1% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $7.36 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Technology
Industrial Cyclical
This fund's turnover is about 18%, so the fund managers are making 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, NAESX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, NAESX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Index area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into NAESX too 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 Small-Cap Index Investor (NAESX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Have you been searching for an Index fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Small-Cap Index Investor (NAESX - 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
NAESX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Small-Cap Index Investor made its debut in March of 1975, and since then, NAESX has accumulated about $683.98 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by William Coleman who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 13.84%, and is 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 11.85%, 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. NAESX's standard deviation over the past three years is 24.75% compared to the category average of 17.76%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.99% compared to the category average of 14.66%. This makes the fund more 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. NAESX has a 5-year beta of 1.2, which means it 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 negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.84, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 88.1% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $7.36 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Technology
- Industrial Cyclical
This fund's turnover is about 18%, so the fund managers are making 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, NAESX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, NAESX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Index area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into NAESX too 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.