Have you been searching for an Index fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX Quick QuoteVGTSX - Free Report) . VGTSX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

VGTSX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund debuted in April of 1996. Since then, VGTSX has accumulated assets of about $209.79 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Michael Perre, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2010.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VGTSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.47% and is 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 4.34%, 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. The standard deviation of VGTSX over the past three years is 16.65% compared to the category average of 14.78%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.5% compared to the category average of 15.94%. 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 0.85, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. VGTSX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -6.1, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, VGTSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.92%. VGTSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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 VGTSX? 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.