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Is Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX - 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
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VFIAX. Since Vanguard 500 Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2000, VFIAX has garnered more than $389.74 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Donald Butler, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.5%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.85%, 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. Over the past three years, VFIAX's standard deviation comes in at 21.43%, compared to the category average of 18.48%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.75% compared to the category average of 16.25%. 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 1, so it is likely going to be as volatile as 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 -0.01. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 98.98% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $248.78 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Retail Trade
Turnover is 2%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, VFIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.78%. VFIAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 VFIAX 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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Is Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX - 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
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VFIAX. Since Vanguard 500 Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2000, VFIAX has garnered more than $389.74 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Donald Butler, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.5%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.85%, 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. Over the past three years, VFIAX's standard deviation comes in at 21.43%, compared to the category average of 18.48%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.75% compared to the category average of 16.25%. 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 1, so it is likely going to be as volatile as 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 -0.01. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 98.98% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $248.78 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Retail Trade
Turnover is 2%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.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, VFIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.78%. VFIAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 VFIAX 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.