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Is Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. VGHAX holds 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 VGHAX. Vanguard Health Care Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, and since then, VGHAX has accumulated about $38.17 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Jean M. Hynes who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2008.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.66%, and it sits in the middle 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 9.49%, 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 VGHAX over the past three years is 15.43% compared to the category average of 18.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.55% compared to the category average of 16.93%. 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 0.66, which means it is hypothetically 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. VGHAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.7, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VGHAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.27% compared to the category average of 1.29%. So, VGHAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
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 VGHAX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. VGHAX holds 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 VGHAX. Vanguard Health Care Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, and since then, VGHAX has accumulated about $38.17 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Jean M. Hynes who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2008.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.66%, and it sits in the middle 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 9.49%, 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 VGHAX over the past three years is 15.43% compared to the category average of 18.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.55% compared to the category average of 16.93%. 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 0.66, which means it is hypothetically 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. VGHAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.7, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VGHAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.27% compared to the category average of 1.29%. So, VGHAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
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 VGHAX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.