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Is Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Admiral (VDADX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Investors in search of a Large Cap Blend fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Admiral (VDADX - Free Report) . VDADX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
VDADX is classified in the Large Cap Blend segment by Zacks, which is an area full of potential. Targeting companies with market caps of more than $10 billion, Large Cap Blend mutual funds offer a stable investment choice; these funds are perfect for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Since blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, investors are exposed to both value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
VDADX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Admiral debuted in December of 2013. Since then, VDADX has accumulated assets of about $14.59 billion, according to the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2016.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VDADX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.85% and it sits in the bottom 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 7.16%, which places it in the bottom 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, VDADX's standard deviation comes in at 15.82%, compared to the category average of 17.44%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.05% compared to the category average of 18.32%. 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 0.85, which means 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.77. This means 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, VDADX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.08% compared to the category average of 0.76%. From a cost perspective, VDADX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, 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
For additional information on the Large Cap Blend 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 VDADX 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 Dividend Appreciation Index Admiral (VDADX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Investors in search of a Large Cap Blend fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Admiral (VDADX - Free Report) . VDADX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
VDADX is classified in the Large Cap Blend segment by Zacks, which is an area full of potential. Targeting companies with market caps of more than $10 billion, Large Cap Blend mutual funds offer a stable investment choice; these funds are perfect for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Since blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, investors are exposed to both value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
VDADX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Admiral debuted in December of 2013. Since then, VDADX has accumulated assets of about $14.59 billion, according to the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2016.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VDADX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.85% and it sits in the bottom 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 7.16%, which places it in the bottom 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, VDADX's standard deviation comes in at 15.82%, compared to the category average of 17.44%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.05% compared to the category average of 18.32%. 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 0.85, which means 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.77. This means 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, VDADX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.08% compared to the category average of 0.76%. From a cost perspective, VDADX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, 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
For additional information on the Large Cap Blend 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 VDADX 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.