Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Small-Cap Growth Index Institutional (VSGIX Quick QuoteVSGIX - Free Report) . VSGIX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VSGIX. The Vanguard Small-Cap Growth Index Institutional made its debut in May of 2000 and VSGIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.06 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Gerard O'Reilly who has been in charge of the fund since September of 2011.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.54%, and it sits in the bottom 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 3.52%, 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. Compared to the category average of 19.95%, the standard deviation of VSGIX over the past three years is 25.4%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.86% compared to the category average of 17.67%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.11, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -4.3, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 98.65% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $5.47 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Technology
2. Health
3. Industrial Cyclical
4. Other
5. Finance

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, VSGIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.06% compared to the category average of 0.78%. From a cost perspective, VSGIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $5 million, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

Bottom Line

This could just be the start of your research on VSGIXin 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.