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Is Vanguard Small-Cap Index Admiral (VSMAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Small-Cap Index Admiral (VSMAX - Free Report) as a possible option. VSMAX 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
VSMAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Small-Cap Index Admiral debuted in November of 2000. Since then, VSMAX has accumulated assets of about $49.36 billion, according to the most recently available information. William Coleman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2016.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.4%, and is 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 9.1%, 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 VSMAX over the past three years is 26.04% compared to the category average of 19.39%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 23.02% compared to the category average of 17.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.14, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more 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. VSMAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.38, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 95.81% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $5.69 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Industrial Cyclical
Technology
With turnover at about 14%, this fund is making 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, VSMAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 0.78%. VSMAX 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
This could just be the start of your research on VSMAXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Vanguard Small-Cap Index Admiral (VSMAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Small-Cap Index Admiral (VSMAX - Free Report) as a possible option. VSMAX 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
VSMAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Small-Cap Index Admiral debuted in November of 2000. Since then, VSMAX has accumulated assets of about $49.36 billion, according to the most recently available information. William Coleman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2016.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.4%, and is 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 9.1%, 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 VSMAX over the past three years is 26.04% compared to the category average of 19.39%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 23.02% compared to the category average of 17.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.14, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more 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. VSMAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.38, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 95.81% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $5.69 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Industrial Cyclical
- Technology
With turnover at about 14%, this fund is making 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, VSMAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 0.78%. VSMAX 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
This could just be the start of your research on VSMAXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.