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Is Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Health funds, consider Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX - Free Report) as a possibility. VGHAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as VGHAX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VGHAX. Vanguard Health Care Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, and since then, VGHAX has accumulated about $29.17 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Rebecca Sykes is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2023.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.81%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.13%, 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, VGHAX's standard deviation comes in at 13.31%, compared to the category average of 14.83%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.63% compared to the category average of 14.95%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.59, the fund is likely to be less volatile than 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. VGHAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -5.29, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VGHAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.32% compared to the category average of 1.03%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VGHAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $50,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Health 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Health funds, consider Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX - Free Report) as a possibility. VGHAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as VGHAX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VGHAX. Vanguard Health Care Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, and since then, VGHAX has accumulated about $29.17 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Rebecca Sykes is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2023.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.81%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.13%, 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, VGHAX's standard deviation comes in at 13.31%, compared to the category average of 14.83%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.63% compared to the category average of 14.95%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.59, the fund is likely to be less volatile than 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. VGHAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -5.29, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VGHAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.32% compared to the category average of 1.03%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VGHAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $50,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Health Care Admiral ( VGHAX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Health 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.