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Is Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility Fund Admiral (VMNVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility Fund Admiral (VMNVX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. VMNVX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VMNVX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility Fund Admiral made its debut in December of 2013, VMNVX has garnered more than $1.85 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, John Ameriks, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2022.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.38%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 1.17%, 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. The standard deviation of VMNVX over the past three years is 15.38% compared to the category average of 19.17%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 13.05% compared to the category average of 16.78%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.63, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.11, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, VMNVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 1.09%. So, VMNVX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility Fund Admiral ( VMNVX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility Fund Admiral ( VMNVX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on VMNVXin 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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