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Is Vanguard Information Technology Index Admiral (VITAX) 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 Information Technology Index Admiral (VITAX - 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
VITAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Information Technology Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004 and VITAX has managed to accumulate roughly $8.90 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2015.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 20.75%, and it sits 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 16.39%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 VITAX over the past three years is 23.54% compared to the category average of 26.08%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.21% compared to the category average of 25.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 6.86. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 90.27% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks and it has 2.8% of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is about 6%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, VITAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.28%. So, VITAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Vanguard Information Technology Index Admiral (VITAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Information Technology Index Admiral (VITAX - 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
VITAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Information Technology Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004 and VITAX has managed to accumulate roughly $8.90 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2015.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 20.75%, and it sits 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 16.39%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 VITAX over the past three years is 23.54% compared to the category average of 26.08%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.21% compared to the category average of 25.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 6.86. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 90.27% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks and it has 2.8% of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is about 6%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, VITAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.28%. So, VITAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.