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Is Vanguard International Value Fund (VTRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with Vanguard International Value Fund (VTRIX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. VTRIX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

VTRIX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VTRIX. Vanguard International Value Fund made its debut in May of 1983, and since then, VTRIX has accumulated about $11.53 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.62%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.92%, 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. Over the past three years, VTRIX's standard deviation comes in at 16.84%, compared to the category average of 16.78%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.82% compared to the category average of 16.57%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.81, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. VTRIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.03, demonstrating that 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, VTRIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.37% compared to the category average of 0.91%. So, VTRIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 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

Overall, Vanguard International Value Fund ( VTRIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Non US - Equity 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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