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Have you been searching for an Investment Grade Bond - Long fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral (VWETX - Free Report) . VWETX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWETX is classified in the Investment Grade Bond - Long segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Investment Grade Bond - Long funds focus on the long end of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than 10 years. While fixed income instruments at this maturity level usually have high duration risk, they compensate investors with a larger yield than their short-maturity counterparts. These funds tend to be safer due to their focus on investment grade, but yields will be smaller than funds in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VWETX. The Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral made its debut in February of 2001 and VWETX has managed to accumulate roughly $11.84 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -1.41%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of -6.22%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.63%, the standard deviation of VWETX over the past three years is 15.86%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 14.21% compared to the category average of 14.4%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 1.74, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VWETX has a positive alpha of 1.93, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, VWETX has 28.84% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 70.3% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, VWETX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.70%. VWETX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, 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, Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral ( VWETX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Investment Grade Bond - Long segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is VWETX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Have you been searching for an Investment Grade Bond - Long fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral (VWETX - Free Report) . VWETX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWETX is classified in the Investment Grade Bond - Long segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Investment Grade Bond - Long funds focus on the long end of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than 10 years. While fixed income instruments at this maturity level usually have high duration risk, they compensate investors with a larger yield than their short-maturity counterparts. These funds tend to be safer due to their focus on investment grade, but yields will be smaller than funds in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VWETX. The Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral made its debut in February of 2001 and VWETX has managed to accumulate roughly $11.84 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -1.41%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of -6.22%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.63%, the standard deviation of VWETX over the past three years is 15.86%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 14.21% compared to the category average of 14.4%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 1.74, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VWETX has a positive alpha of 1.93, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, VWETX has 28.84% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 70.3% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, VWETX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.70%. VWETX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, 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, Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral ( VWETX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Investment Grade Bond - Long segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.