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Is Vanguard REIT Index Institutional (VGSNX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard REIT Index Institutional (VGSNX - Free Report) . VGSNX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VGSNX. Vanguard REIT Index Institutional made its debut in December of 2003, and since then, VGSNX has accumulated about $12.12 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Gerard O'Reilly is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2003.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.71%, 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 9.91%, 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. Compared to the category average of 16.08%, the standard deviation of VGSNX over the past three years is 19.35%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.37% 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 0.83, which means it is hypothetically less 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. VGSNX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VGSNX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.78%. VGSNX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $5 million, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VGSNXin 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 REIT Index Institutional (VGSNX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard REIT Index Institutional (VGSNX - Free Report) . VGSNX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VGSNX. Vanguard REIT Index Institutional made its debut in December of 2003, and since then, VGSNX has accumulated about $12.12 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Gerard O'Reilly is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2003.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.71%, 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 9.91%, 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. Compared to the category average of 16.08%, the standard deviation of VGSNX over the past three years is 19.35%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.37% 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 0.83, which means it is hypothetically less 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. VGSNX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VGSNX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.78%. VGSNX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $5 million, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VGSNXin 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.