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Is Vanguard Growth Index Institutional (VIGIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Are you on the hunt for a Large Cap Growth fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Growth Index Institutional (VIGIX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

Objective

VIGIX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.

History of Fund/Manager

VIGIX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Growth Index Institutional made its debut in May of 1998, and since then, VIGIX has accumulated about $46.41 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 18.43%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 31.59%, 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. The standard deviation of VIGIX over the past three years is 16.68% compared to the category average of 13.51%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.63% compared to the category average of 15.34%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.17, the fund is likely to be more 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. With a negative alpha of -0.97, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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 82.81% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $806.71 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Retail Trade

Turnover is 10%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, VIGIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VIGIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $5.00 million and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

This could just be the start of your research on VIGIX in the Large Cap Growth category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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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