If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund Admiral (VGSLX Quick QuoteVGSLX - Free Report) as a possibility. 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 based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VGSLX. Since Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, VGSLX has garnered more than $20.76 billion in assets. Gerard O'Reilly is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2001.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VGSLX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.06% and is in the middle 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 2.98%, 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. VGSLX's standard deviation over the past three years is 23.52% compared to the category average of 19.36%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.04% compared to the category average of 16.67%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VGSLX has a 5-year beta of 0.91, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. VGSLX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.34, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, VGSLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.78%. VGSLX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to 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. 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.