If investors are looking at the Mid Cap Value fund category, Vanguard Selected Value Fund (VASVX Quick QuoteVASVX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VASVX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Mid Cap Value funds is an area filled with options, like VASVX. Targeting medium-sized companies with a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion, Mid Cap Value mutual funds more often than not choose stocks that hold solid value and income investment opportunities.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VASVX. Since Vanguard Selected Value Fund made its debut in February of 1996, VASVX has garnered more than $6.98 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VASVX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.31%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 14.13%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.26%, the standard deviation of VASVX over the past three years is 15.29%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.88% compared to the category average of 16.74%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.92, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.3. This means that 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, VASVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.33% compared to the category average of 0.93%. So, VASVX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, 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

Overall, Vanguard Selected Value Fund ( VASVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Selected Value Fund ( VASVX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

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