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Is Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor (VWINX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Allocation Balanced fund category, Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor (VWINX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VWINX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWINX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
VWINX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor made its debut in July of 1970, VWINX has garnered more than $8.73 billion in assets. Loren Moran is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2017.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.2%, and is in the middle 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 0.8%, 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 12.1%, the standard deviation of VWINX over the past three years is 9.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.18% compared to the category average of 12.64%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.45, 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. With a negative alpha of -3.67, 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, VWINX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.23% compared to the category average of 0.81%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VWINX 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
Overall, Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor ( VWINX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Allocation Balanced 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 VWINX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor (VWINX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Allocation Balanced fund category, Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor (VWINX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VWINX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWINX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
VWINX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor made its debut in July of 1970, VWINX has garnered more than $8.73 billion in assets. Loren Moran is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2017.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.2%, and is in the middle 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 0.8%, 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 12.1%, the standard deviation of VWINX over the past three years is 9.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.18% compared to the category average of 12.64%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.45, 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. With a negative alpha of -3.67, 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, VWINX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.23% compared to the category average of 0.81%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VWINX 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
Overall, Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor ( VWINX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Allocation Balanced 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 VWINX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.