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Is Vanguard International Growth Admiral (VWILX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Non US - Equity fund? Well, Vanguard International Growth Admiral (VWILX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. VWILX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes VWILX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is responsible for VWILX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard International Growth Admiral made its debut in August of 2001 and VWILX has managed to accumulate roughly $38.34 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.26%, and is 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 -6.59%, which places it in the bottom 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 VWILX over the past three years is 22.79% compared to the category average of 17.27%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.54% compared to the category average of 17.25%. 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 1.05, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.78, 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, VWILX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.26% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, VWILX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $50,000, 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

Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard International Growth Admiral ( VWILX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on VWILXin the Non US - Equity 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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