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Is Vanguard Extended Market Index Admiral (VEXAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you're looking for a Small Cap Blend fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Extended Market Index Admiral (VEXAX - Free Report) . VEXAX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
Zacks categorizes VEXAX as Small Cap Blend, which is an area packed with options. Usually targeting stocks with market caps of less than $2 billion, a Small Cap Blend mutual fund lets investors diversify their funds among other kinds of small-cap equities. This can help reduce risk found in companies that have a lower stock market valuation.
History of Fund/Manager
VEXAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Extended Market Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2000, and since then, VEXAX has accumulated about $30.28 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VEXAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.73%, and is 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 19.73%, 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. Over the past three years, VEXAX's standard deviation comes in at 18%, compared to the category average of 12.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.67% compared to the category average of 13.87%. 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 1.12, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -6.36, which shows that 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 95.16% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $12.41 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 12%, this fund is making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, VEXAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 0.93%. From a cost perspective, VEXAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VEXAX? 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
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Is Vanguard Extended Market Index Admiral (VEXAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you're looking for a Small Cap Blend fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Extended Market Index Admiral (VEXAX - Free Report) . VEXAX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
Zacks categorizes VEXAX as Small Cap Blend, which is an area packed with options. Usually targeting stocks with market caps of less than $2 billion, a Small Cap Blend mutual fund lets investors diversify their funds among other kinds of small-cap equities. This can help reduce risk found in companies that have a lower stock market valuation.
History of Fund/Manager
VEXAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Extended Market Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2000, and since then, VEXAX has accumulated about $30.28 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VEXAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.73%, and is 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 19.73%, 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. Over the past three years, VEXAX's standard deviation comes in at 18%, compared to the category average of 12.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.67% compared to the category average of 13.87%. 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 1.12, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -6.36, which shows that 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 95.16% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $12.41 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
With turnover at about 12%, this fund is making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, VEXAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 0.93%. From a cost perspective, VEXAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VEXAX? 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.