If you're looking for an Index fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Institutional Index Plus (VIIIX Quick QuoteVIIIX - 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 VIIIX. Since Vanguard Institutional Index Plus made its debut in July of 1997, VIIIX has garnered more than $179.72 billion in assets. Michelle Louie is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2017.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VIIIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.9% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.35%, 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 VIIIX over the past three years is 17.68% compared to the category average of 0%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.02% compared to the category average of 7%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VIIIX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.02, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, VIIIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.02% compared to the category average of 58%. So, VIIIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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.

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

Bottom Line

Want even more information about VIIIX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.