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Is Vanguard Growth Index Administrative (VIGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Large Cap Growth funds, consider Vanguard Growth Index Administrative (VIGAX - Free Report) as a possibility. VIGAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VIGAX 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
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VIGAX. Vanguard Growth Index Administrative debuted in November of 2000. Since then, VIGAX has accumulated assets of about $27.92 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Gerard C. O'Reilly, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 16.62%, and is 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 14.97%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
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. Compared to the category average of 9.77%, the standard deviation of VIGAX over the past three years is 11.39%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 10.56% compared to the category average of 9.37%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. In VIGAX's case, the fund lost 47.12% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1.86%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.06, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. VIGAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.14, which means 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, VIGAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.06% compared to the category average of 1.07%. From a cost perspective, VIGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $10,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Growth Index Administrative has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Growth Index Administrative looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about VIGAX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Vanguard Growth Index Administrative (VIGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Large Cap Growth funds, consider Vanguard Growth Index Administrative (VIGAX - Free Report) as a possibility. VIGAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VIGAX 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
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VIGAX. Vanguard Growth Index Administrative debuted in November of 2000. Since then, VIGAX has accumulated assets of about $27.92 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Gerard C. O'Reilly, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 16.62%, and is 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 14.97%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
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. Compared to the category average of 9.77%, the standard deviation of VIGAX over the past three years is 11.39%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 10.56% compared to the category average of 9.37%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. In VIGAX's case, the fund lost 47.12% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1.86%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.06, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. VIGAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.14, which means 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, VIGAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.06% compared to the category average of 1.07%. From a cost perspective, VIGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $10,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Growth Index Administrative has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Growth Index Administrative looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about VIGAX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.