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Is Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Investor (VPCCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Investor (VPCCX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. VPCCX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (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 VPCCX. Since Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Investor made its debut in December of 2004, VPCCX has garnered more than $10.78 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.28%, and is in the bottom 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 18.52%, 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 VPCCX over the past three years is 17.96% compared to the category average of 20.91%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.89% compared to the category average of 18.86%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.97, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. With a negative alpha of -1.33, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 91.04% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $165 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Health
  • Industrial Cyclical
This fund's turnover is about 6%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VPCCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 0.99%. VPCCX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note, that according to our data, the fund does not have any minimum investment requirements.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Investor ( VPCCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great 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 VPCCX 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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