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Is Vanguard Value Index Admiral (VVIAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Value Index Admiral (VVIAX - Free Report) . VVIAX 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

VVIAX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Value Index Admiral debuted in November of 2000. Since then, VVIAX has accumulated assets of about $32.10 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Gerard O'Reilly, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2000.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.12%, and is in the top 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 15.4%, 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. Over the past three years, VVIAX's standard deviation comes in at 16.37%, compared to the category average of 18.47%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.95% compared to the category average of 16.45%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.9, so investors should note that 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. With a negative alpha of -1.07, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining 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.

This fund is currently holding about 91.62% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $159.84 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Finance
  • Industrial Cyclical
  • Health
  • Technology
  • Non-Durable
Turnover is about 5%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VVIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 0.98%. So, VVIAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

Bottom Line

Want even more information about VVIAX? 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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