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Is Vanguard REIT Index Administrativeiral (VGSLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Index category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard REIT Index Administrativeiral (VGSLX - Free Report) . VGSLX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
VGSLX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard REIT Index Administrativeiral made its debut in November of 2001, VGSLX has garnered more than $17.76 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Gerard C. O'Reilly who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2001.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.91%, and it sits 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 8.95%, 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 8.85%, the standard deviation of VGSLX over the past three years is 12.48%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.46% compared to the category average of 8.8%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, VGSLX lost 64.47% and outperformed its peer group by 17.92%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.51, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 3.01. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VGSLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.85%. So, VGSLX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $10,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Your research on the Index segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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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Is Vanguard REIT Index Administrativeiral (VGSLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Index category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard REIT Index Administrativeiral (VGSLX - Free Report) . VGSLX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
VGSLX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard REIT Index Administrativeiral made its debut in November of 2001, VGSLX has garnered more than $17.76 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Gerard C. O'Reilly who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2001.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.91%, and it sits 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 8.95%, 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 8.85%, the standard deviation of VGSLX over the past three years is 12.48%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.46% compared to the category average of 8.8%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, VGSLX lost 64.47% and outperformed its peer group by 17.92%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.51, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 3.01. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VGSLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.85%. So, VGSLX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $10,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Your research on the Index segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.