Is Vanguard Value Index Investor (VIVAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Value Index Investor (VIVAX). The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VIVAX. Vanguard Value Index Investor debuted in November of 1992. Since then, VIVAX has accumulated assets of about $247.24 million, according to the most recently available information. Gerard O'Reilly is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2000.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12%, 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 14.47%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
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 VIVAX over the past three years is 18.13% compared to the category average of 16.07%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.91% compared to the category average of 13.99%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.96, 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. VIVAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.41, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 89.2% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $146.71 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Industrial Cyclical
Technology
Turnover is about 10%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VIVAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, VIVAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Want even more information about VIVAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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