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Is Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX - Free Report) as a possibility. While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VCSAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004 and VCSAX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.14 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Awais Khan who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2017.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.38%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.65%, 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. The standard deviation of VCSAX over the past three years is 15.02% compared to the category average of 15.83%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 14.86% compared to the category average of 16.11%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.65, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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 -0.32, 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, VCSAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, VCSAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to 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
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.
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Is Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral (VCSAX - Free Report) as a possibility. While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VCSAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Consumer Staples Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004 and VCSAX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.14 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Awais Khan who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2017.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.38%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.65%, 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. The standard deviation of VCSAX over the past three years is 15.02% compared to the category average of 15.83%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 14.86% compared to the category average of 16.11%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.65, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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 -0.32, 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, VCSAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, VCSAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to 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
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.