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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor (VPAIX - Free Report) is one possibility. VPAIX 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 VPAIX. Since Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor made its debut in April of 1986, VPAIX has garnered more than $291.09 million in assets. James D'Arcy is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2011.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.32%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.74%, 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. VPAIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.17% compared to the category average of 10.94%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.15% compared to the category average of 10.4%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
VPAIX carries a beta of 1.02, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.21, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, VPAIX has 39.93% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 56.99% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, VPAIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VPAIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor ( VPAIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor ( VPAIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond 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 VPAIX too 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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Is VPAIX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor (VPAIX - Free Report) is one possibility. VPAIX 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 VPAIX. Since Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor made its debut in April of 1986, VPAIX has garnered more than $291.09 million in assets. James D'Arcy is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2011.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.32%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.74%, 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. VPAIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.17% compared to the category average of 10.94%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.15% compared to the category average of 10.4%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
VPAIX carries a beta of 1.02, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.21, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, VPAIX has 39.93% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 56.99% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, VPAIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VPAIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor ( VPAIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard PA Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor ( VPAIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond 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 VPAIX too 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.