Any investors who are searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds should take a look at Vanguard Small-Cap Index Investor (NAESX Quick QuoteNAESX - 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 NAESX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Small-Cap Index Investor debuted in March of 1975. Since then, NAESX has accumulated assets of about $456.99 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, William Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. NAESX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.24% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.86%, 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. NAESX's standard deviation over the past three years is 24.71% compared to the category average of 18.64%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.06% compared to the category average of 16.49%. 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. NAESX has a 5-year beta of 1.13, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.99, which shows that 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 93.49% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $5.78 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Finance
2. Industrial Cyclical
3. Technology

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, NAESX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.78%. NAESX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Want even more information about NAESX? 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.