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Is Vanguard Extended Market Index Investor (VEXMX) 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 Extended Market Index Investor (VEXMX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is responsible for VEXMX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Extended Market Index Investor debuted in December of 1987. Since then, VEXMX has accumulated assets of about $221.89 million, according to the most recently available information. Donald Butler is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2000.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.91%, and is 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 16.98%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, VEXMX's standard deviation comes in at 23.85%, compared to the category average of 18.45%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 23.94% compared to the category average of 16.36%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.18, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -5.61. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating 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.

The mutual fund currently has 98.62% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $9.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Finance
  • Technology
  • Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 11%, this fund is making 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, VEXMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.19% compared to the category average of 0.97%. VEXMX 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 $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

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. 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.


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