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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral (VCOBX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VCOBX possesses 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
VCOBX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Core Bond Admiral debuted in March of 2016. Since then, VCOBX has accumulated assets of about $7.68 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.73%, and is in the top 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 -2.5%, which places it in the top 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, VCOBX's standard deviation comes in at 6.36%, compared to the category average of 10.79%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 5.6% compared to the category average of 10.3%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 1, this fund is volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VCOBX has a positive alpha of 0.56, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VCOBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.75%. From a cost perspective, VCOBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral ( VCOBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral ( VCOBX ) 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 VCOBX 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 VCOBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral (VCOBX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VCOBX possesses 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
VCOBX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Core Bond Admiral debuted in March of 2016. Since then, VCOBX has accumulated assets of about $7.68 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.73%, and is in the top 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 -2.5%, which places it in the top 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, VCOBX's standard deviation comes in at 6.36%, compared to the category average of 10.79%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 5.6% compared to the category average of 10.3%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 1, this fund is volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VCOBX has a positive alpha of 0.56, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VCOBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.75%. From a cost perspective, VCOBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral ( VCOBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Core Bond Admiral ( VCOBX ) 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 VCOBX 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.