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Is Vanguard Wellington Investor (VWELX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Allocation Balanced fund category, Vanguard Wellington Investor (VWELX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VWELX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWELX 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
Vanguard Group is responsible for VWELX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Wellington Investor made its debut in July of 1929, and since then, VWELX has accumulated about $13.38 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Loren Moran, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VWELX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.71% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.36%, 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. The standard deviation of VWELX over the past three years is 12.41% compared to the category average of 13.46%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.48% compared to the category average of 13.98%. 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 0.67, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. VWELX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.09, which means 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, VWELX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.25% compared to the category average of 0.89%. So, VWELX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; 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
Overall, Vanguard Wellington Investor ( VWELX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Wellington Investor ( VWELX ) 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 VWELX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Vanguard Wellington Investor (VWELX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Allocation Balanced fund category, Vanguard Wellington Investor (VWELX - Free Report) could be a potential option. VWELX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWELX 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
Vanguard Group is responsible for VWELX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Wellington Investor made its debut in July of 1929, and since then, VWELX has accumulated about $13.38 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Loren Moran, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VWELX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.71% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.36%, 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. The standard deviation of VWELX over the past three years is 12.41% compared to the category average of 13.46%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.48% compared to the category average of 13.98%. 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 0.67, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. VWELX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.09, which means 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, VWELX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.25% compared to the category average of 0.89%. So, VWELX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; 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
Overall, Vanguard Wellington Investor ( VWELX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Wellington Investor ( VWELX ) 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 VWELX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.