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Is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VUIAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, and since then, VUIAX has accumulated about $1.88 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Awais Khan is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.3%, and it sits in the top 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 8.36%, 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. The standard deviation of VUIAX over the past three years is 17.87% compared to the category average of 17.25%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.24% compared to the category average of 14.66%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VUIAX has a 5-year beta of 0.47, 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. VUIAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3.48, which means 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, VUIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.22%. So, VUIAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VUIAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral (VUIAX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VUIAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Utilities Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, and since then, VUIAX has accumulated about $1.88 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Awais Khan is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.3%, and it sits in the top 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 8.36%, 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. The standard deviation of VUIAX over the past three years is 17.87% compared to the category average of 17.25%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.24% compared to the category average of 14.66%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VUIAX has a 5-year beta of 0.47, 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. VUIAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3.48, which means 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, VUIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.22%. So, VUIAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VUIAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.