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Is VIPSX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is Vanguard Inflation Pro Security Fund (VIPSX - Free Report) . VIPSX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VIPSX. Vanguard Inflation Pro Security Fund made its debut in June of 2000, and since then, VIPSX has accumulated about $3.65 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, John Madziyire, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2021.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.45%, and it sits in the middle 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 4.24%, 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 VIPSX over the past three years is 4.35% compared to the category average of 11.72%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 3.87% compared to the category average of 10.28%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.71, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VIPSX has a positive alpha of 2.28, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, VIPSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.20% compared to the category average of 0.82%. So, VIPSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Inflation Pro Security Fund ( VIPSX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Inflation Pro Security Fund ( VIPSX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond 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 VIPSX too 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.


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