Investors in search of a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard REIT Index Investor (VGSIX Quick QuoteVGSIX - 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

VGSIX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard REIT Index Investor made its debut in May of 1996 and VGSIX has managed to accumulate roughly $194.72 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Gerard O'Reilly who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2001.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.5%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.28%, 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 VGSIX over the past three years is 19.09% compared to the category average of 16.08%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.21% compared to the category average of 14.28%. 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 0.85, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.24, which shows 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, VGSIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.26% compared to the category average of 0.78%. So, VGSIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Want even more information about VGSIX? 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.