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Is Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund (VASIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for an Allocation Balanced fund? Starting with Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund (VASIX - Free Report) is one possibility. VASIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VASIX is classified in the Allocation Balanced segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Here, investors are able to get a good head start with diversified mutual funds, and play around with core holding options for a portfolio of funds. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VASIX. Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund made its debut in September of 1994, and since then, VASIX has accumulated about $4.71 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.43%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.24%, which places it in the bottom 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. VASIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 3.01% compared to the category average of -36.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3.08% compared to the category average of 0.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. VASIX lost 15.43% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 13%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VASIX has a 5-year beta of 0.16, which means it 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. VASIX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.85, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VASIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.11% compared to the category average of -15.43%. VASIX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund ( VASIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VASIXin the Allocation Balanced category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund (VASIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for an Allocation Balanced fund? Starting with Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund (VASIX - Free Report) is one possibility. VASIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VASIX is classified in the Allocation Balanced segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Here, investors are able to get a good head start with diversified mutual funds, and play around with core holding options for a portfolio of funds. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VASIX. Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund made its debut in September of 1994, and since then, VASIX has accumulated about $4.71 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.43%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.24%, which places it in the bottom 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. VASIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 3.01% compared to the category average of -36.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3.08% compared to the category average of 0.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. VASIX lost 15.43% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 13%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VASIX has a 5-year beta of 0.16, which means it 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. VASIX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.85, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VASIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.11% compared to the category average of -15.43%. VASIX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund ( VASIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VASIXin the Allocation Balanced category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.