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Is Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Are you on the hunt for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX - 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.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VCSAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, VCSAX has garnered more than $834.14 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Awais Khan who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.22%, and it sits in the top 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 12.06%, 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 15.73%, the standard deviation of VCSAX over the past three years is 14.27%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.76% compared to the category average of 13.58%. 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 0.65, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than 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. VCSAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.84, 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, VCSAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.95%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VCSAX 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
This could just be the start of your research on VCSAXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Are you on the hunt for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX - 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.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VCSAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, VCSAX has garnered more than $834.14 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Awais Khan who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.22%, and it sits in the top 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 12.06%, 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 15.73%, the standard deviation of VCSAX over the past three years is 14.27%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.76% compared to the category average of 13.58%. 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 0.65, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than 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. VCSAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.84, 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, VCSAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.95%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VCSAX 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
This could just be the start of your research on VCSAXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.