If you're looking for a Sector - Health fund category, then a possible option is Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral (VHCIX Quick QuoteVHCIX - Free Report) . VHCIX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

Objective

We note that VHCIX is a Sector - Health fund, and this area is also loaded with various options. Sector - Health mutual funds give investors an opportunity to focus on one of the largest sectors of the American economy, healthcare. Funds in this category can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is responsible for VHCIX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, VHCIX has garnered more than $2.95 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Walter Nejman, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2015.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.61%, and it sits 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 7.17%, which places it in the top 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. Over the past three years, VHCIX's standard deviation comes in at 14.6%, compared to the category average of 17.18%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.28% compared to the category average of 17.79%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.69, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. VHCIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.06, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, VHCIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 1.13%. So, VHCIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

This could just be the start of your research on VHCIXin the Sector - Health 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 want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.