Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Investor (VPCCX Quick QuoteVPCCX - 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. Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Investor debuted in December of 2004. Since then, VPCCX has accumulated assets of about $11.22 billion, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VPCCX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.39% and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 12.2%, 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. Over the past three years, VPCCX's standard deviation comes in at 17.34%, compared to the category average of 17.68%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.98% compared to the category average of 18.97%. 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 0.96, which means it is hypothetically less 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. With a negative alpha of -0.98, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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 0.98%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VPCCX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard PRIMECAP Core Investor ( VPCCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.

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