Allocation Balanced fund seekers should consider taking a look at Vanguard Wellesley Income Admiral (VWIAX Quick QuoteVWIAX - Free Report) . VWIAX carries 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 Zacks' Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as VWIAX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.

History of Fund/Manager

VWIAX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Wellesley Income Admiral made its debut in May of 2001, VWIAX has garnered more than $40.88 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Loren Moran, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2017.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VWIAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.06%, and it sits in the bottom 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 7.38%, 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. VWIAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.35% compared to the category average of 9.32%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 8.2% compared to the category average of 10.53%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.46, 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. VWIAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.41, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VWIAX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 0.15%.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $50,000, and each subsequent investment should 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

This puts this fund from Vanguard Group in the top 20% of all mutual funds we have a rank on right now. As a result, this is likely an excellent choice for investors seeking an option in the Allocation Balanced category.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Allocation Balanced, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.