Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at Vanguard Explorer Fund Admiral (VEXRX Quick QuoteVEXRX - Free Report) . VEXRX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VEXRX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Explorer Fund Admiral made its debut in November of 2001 and VEXRX has managed to accumulate roughly $18.49 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 15.54%, and it sits 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 15.69%, 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. VEXRX's standard deviation over the past three years is 22.88% compared to the category average of 19.35%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.54% compared to the category average of 17.32%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.18, the fund 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. VEXRX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.14, demonstrating 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.

This fund is currently holding about 97.09% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $11.02 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Technology
2. Industrial Cyclical
3. Health
4. Finance

With turnover at about 45%, this fund is making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, VEXRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.29% compared to the category average of 1.19%. VEXRX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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 Explorer Fund Admiral ( VEXRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Explorer Fund Admiral ( VEXRX ) 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 Mutual Fund Equity Report, 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.