If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Real Estate Index Investor (VGSIX Quick QuoteVGSIX - Free Report) . VGSIX 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

VGSIX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Real Estate Index Investor made its debut in May of 1996, and since then, VGSIX has accumulated about $137.90 million 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 November of 2001.

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 2.94%, and is 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 -1.74%, 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. VGSIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 22.37% compared to the category average of 18.35%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.47% compared to the category average of 16.01%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.88, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -4.44. This means 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

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.