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Is Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor (VPMCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor (VPMCX - Free Report) . VPMCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VPMCX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor made its debut in November of 1984, VPMCX has garnered more than $4.89 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VPMCX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.08% 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 11.65%, 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 17.11%, the standard deviation of VPMCX over the past three years is 17.91%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.27% compared to the category average of 15.46%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.95, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. VPMCX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.05, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 87.68% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $370.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Health
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 2%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VPMCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 0.99%. VPMCX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor ( VPMCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VPMCXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor (VPMCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor (VPMCX - Free Report) . VPMCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VPMCX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor made its debut in November of 1984, VPMCX has garnered more than $4.89 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VPMCX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.08% 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 11.65%, 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 17.11%, the standard deviation of VPMCX over the past three years is 17.91%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.27% compared to the category average of 15.46%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.95, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. VPMCX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.05, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 87.68% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $370.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Health
- Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 2%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VPMCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 0.99%. VPMCX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Investor ( VPMCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VPMCXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.