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Is Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find an Allocation Balanced fund could think about starting with Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX - Free Report) . VASGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Zacks' Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as VASGX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
VASGX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund made its debut in September of 1994 and VASGX has managed to accumulate roughly $20.09 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by William Coleman who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2022.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.24%, and it sits 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 3.82%, 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 VASGX over the past three years is 14.27% compared to the category average of 14.16%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.02% compared to the category average of 15.37%. 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 0.8, which means it is hypothetically 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.34. This means 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, VASGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.74%. VASGX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VASGXin the Allocation Balanced category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find an Allocation Balanced fund could think about starting with Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund (VASGX - Free Report) . VASGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Zacks' Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as VASGX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
VASGX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund made its debut in September of 1994 and VASGX has managed to accumulate roughly $20.09 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by William Coleman who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2022.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.24%, and it sits 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 3.82%, 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 VASGX over the past three years is 14.27% compared to the category average of 14.16%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.02% compared to the category average of 15.37%. 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 0.8, which means it is hypothetically 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.34. This means 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, VASGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.74%. VASGX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund ( VASGX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VASGXin the Allocation Balanced category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.