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There are plenty of choices in the High Yield - Bonds category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Investor (VWEHX - Free Report) . VWEHX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that VWEHX is a High Yield - Bonds option, which is an area loaded with different investment choices. High Yield - Bonds funds are often known as " junk " bonds since they are below investment grade. This means they are at an elevated risk of default, at least when compared to their investment grade peers. On the plus side, junk bonds generally pay out higher yields, all while posing similar interest rate risks as we see with their investment grade counterparts.
History of Fund/Manager
VWEHX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Investor debuted in December of 1978. Since then, VWEHX has accumulated assets of about $3.05 billion, according to the most recently available information. Michael Chang is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2022.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VWEHX has a 5-year annualized total return of 3.32% 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 2.56%, 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. Over the past three years, VWEHX's standard deviation comes in at 8.2%, compared to the category average of 10.87%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 8.6% compared to the category average of 12.11%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.26, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VWEHX has a positive alpha of 3.5, 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, VWEHX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 86.8%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VWEHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.22% compared to the category average of 0.91%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VWEHX is actually cheaper than its peers.
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 similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Investor ( VWEHX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on High Yield - Bonds funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VWEHX to its peers 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 VWEHX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the High Yield - Bonds category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Investor (VWEHX - Free Report) . VWEHX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that VWEHX is a High Yield - Bonds option, which is an area loaded with different investment choices. High Yield - Bonds funds are often known as " junk " bonds since they are below investment grade. This means they are at an elevated risk of default, at least when compared to their investment grade peers. On the plus side, junk bonds generally pay out higher yields, all while posing similar interest rate risks as we see with their investment grade counterparts.
History of Fund/Manager
VWEHX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Investor debuted in December of 1978. Since then, VWEHX has accumulated assets of about $3.05 billion, according to the most recently available information. Michael Chang is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2022.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VWEHX has a 5-year annualized total return of 3.32% 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 2.56%, 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. Over the past three years, VWEHX's standard deviation comes in at 8.2%, compared to the category average of 10.87%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 8.6% compared to the category average of 12.11%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.26, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VWEHX has a positive alpha of 3.5, 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, VWEHX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 86.8%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VWEHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.22% compared to the category average of 0.91%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VWEHX is actually cheaper than its peers.
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 similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Investor ( VWEHX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on High Yield - Bonds funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VWEHX to its peers 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.