Is VTIBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Investors in search of a Mutual Fund Bond fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard Total International Bond Index Investor (VTIBX). While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VTIBX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Total International Bond Index Investor made its debut in May of 2013 and VTIBX has managed to accumulate roughly $21.90 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Joshua Barrickman, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.11%, 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 -4.39%, 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, VTIBX's standard deviation comes in at 5.47%, compared to the category average of 13.25%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 5.05% compared to the category average of 13.9%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.74, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VTIBX has a negative alpha of -0.48, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VTIBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.13% compared to the category average of 0.86%. VTIBX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
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 VTIBXin the Mutual Fund Bond 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. 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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