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Is Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Admiral (VEMAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Admiral (VEMAX - 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 VEMAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index Admiral made its debut in June of 2006, and since then, VEMAX has accumulated about $14.55 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Michael Perre who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2008.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of -0.8%, and it sits 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 1.82%, 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. VEMAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.54% compared to the category average of 18.57%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.33% compared to the category average of 16.24%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.69, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. VEMAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -6.99, which means 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, VEMAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 1.14%. So, VEMAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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