We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral (VHCIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Investors in search of a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral (VHCIX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VHCIX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral debuted in January of 2004. Since then, VHCIX has accumulated assets of about $2.94 billion, according to the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VHCIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.99% and is in the top 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 11.07%, 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. VHCIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 16.95% compared to the category average of 19.28%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.21% compared to the category average of 18.96%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.73, so it is likely going to be 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 positive alpha of 2.59. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 79.51% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $173.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Health
Finance
With turnover at about 3%, this fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VHCIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.29%. From a cost perspective, VHCIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VHCIXin 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral (VHCIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Investors in search of a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral (VHCIX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VHCIX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral debuted in January of 2004. Since then, VHCIX has accumulated assets of about $2.94 billion, according to the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VHCIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.99% and is in the top 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 11.07%, 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. VHCIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 16.95% compared to the category average of 19.28%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.21% compared to the category average of 18.96%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.73, so it is likely going to be 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 positive alpha of 2.59. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 79.51% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $173.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Health
- Finance
With turnover at about 3%, this fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VHCIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.29%. From a cost perspective, VHCIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
This could just be the start of your research on VHCIXin 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.