Looking for an Index fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Institutional Index Fund (VINIX Quick QuoteVINIX - Free Report) as a possible option. 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 VINIX. Since Vanguard Institutional Index Fund made its debut in July of 1990, VINIX has garnered more than $128.18 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Michelle Louie who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2017.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VINIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.13% and is in the top 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 11.87%, 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. Over the past three years, VINIX's standard deviation comes in at 16.92%, compared to the category average of 15.73%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.2% compared to the category average of 16.82%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. VINIX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.01, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 75.2% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $466.72 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Technology
• Finance

Turnover is 2%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, VINIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.84%. VINIX 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 $5 million 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

Your research on the Index 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.