Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Vanguard Global Mineral Volatility Investor (VMVFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, Vanguard Global Mineral Volatility Investor (VMVFX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. VMVFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VMVFX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Global Mineral Volatility Investor made its debut in December of 2013 and VMVFX has managed to accumulate roughly $214.70 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, John Ameriks, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2022.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.5%, and is 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 5.06%, which places it in the middle 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 VMVFX over the past three years is 10.32% compared to the category average of 16.48%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.02% compared to the category average of 17.01%. 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 0.61, so it is likely going to be less volatile than 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.67, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, VMVFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.21% compared to the category average of 0.97%. So, VMVFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to 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

Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Global Mineral Volatility Investor ( VMVFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 VMVFX too 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Vanguard Global Min Volatility Inv (VMVFX) - free report >>

Published in