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Is Vanguard Equity Income Investor (VEIPX) 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 Equity Income Investor (VEIPX - Free Report) . VEIPX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VEIPX. The Vanguard Equity Income Investor made its debut in March of 1988 and VEIPX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.40 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Sharon Hill is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2021.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.82%, and it sits in the top 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 8.93%, 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. The standard deviation of VEIPX over the past three years is 19.31% compared to the category average of 19.45%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.92% compared to the category average of 17.08%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VEIPX has a 5-year beta of 0.84, which means it is likely to be less 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.67, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 95.2% of its holdings in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $130.31 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Finance
  • Health
  • Non-Durable
Turnover is 40%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, VEIPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.28% compared to the category average of 0.98%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VEIPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Equity Income Investor ( VEIPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Equity Income Investor ( VEIPX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about VEIPX? 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.


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