If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond fund category, a potential starting could be Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral (VWETX Quick QuoteVWETX - Free Report) . VWETX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VWETX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral debuted in February of 2001. Since then, VWETX has accumulated assets of about $11.41 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.31%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of -9.46%, which places it in the bottom 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 14.36%, the standard deviation of VWETX over the past three years is 14.97%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.02% compared to the category average of 14.43%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 1.95, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VWETX has a positive alpha of 2.6, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, VWETX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.70%. VWETX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $50,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral ( VWETX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into VWETX too 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.