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Is Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX) 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 Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX - Free Report) . 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 VITPX. Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus debuted in May of 2001. Since then, VITPX has accumulated assets of about $26.52 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Walter Nejman, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.03%, 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 12.16%, 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. Compared to the category average of 19.03%, the standard deviation of VITPX over the past three years is 18.22%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.24% compared to the category average of 16.98%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means 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. VITPX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -1.05, which means 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.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 87.09% of its assets in stocks and it has 2.29% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Finance
Turnover is 8%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VITPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.02% compared to the category average of 0.91%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VITPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100 million, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VITPX to its peers as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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