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Is Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral (VBTLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Are you on the hunt for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral (VBTLX - Free Report) . VBTLX 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 VBTLX. The Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2001 and VBTLX has managed to accumulate roughly $96.53 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Joshua Barrickman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 0.5%, and it sits in the middle 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 -4.43%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 12.67%, the standard deviation of VBTLX over the past three years is 6.09%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.52% compared to the category average of 13.32%. This makes the fund less 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. VBTLX has a 5-year beta of 1.01, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. VBTLX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.03, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VBTLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 0.81%. From a cost perspective, VBTLX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into VBTLX too 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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Is Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral (VBTLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Are you on the hunt for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral (VBTLX - Free Report) . VBTLX 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 VBTLX. The Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2001 and VBTLX has managed to accumulate roughly $96.53 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Joshua Barrickman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 0.5%, and it sits in the middle 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 -4.43%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 12.67%, the standard deviation of VBTLX over the past three years is 6.09%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.52% compared to the category average of 13.32%. This makes the fund less 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. VBTLX has a 5-year beta of 1.01, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. VBTLX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.03, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VBTLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 0.81%. From a cost perspective, VBTLX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into VBTLX too 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.