Yahoo Finance Is Vanguard Growth Index Investor (VIGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? Vanguard Growth Index Investor VIGRX is a potential starting point. VIGRX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VIGRX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VIGRX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Growth Index Investor made its debut in November of 1992, and since then, VIGRX has accumulated about $3.18 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Gerard C. O'Reilly is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 1994.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.15%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 10.94%, 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. Over the past three years, VIGRX's standard deviation comes in at 11.35%, compared to the category average of 9.77%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.82% compared to the category average of 9.55%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. VIGRX lost 47.19% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1.83%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.05, which means it is hypothetically more 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. VIGRX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 0.24, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 98.62% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $162.29 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Non-Durable
Finance
Turnover is 16%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, VIGRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.18% compared to the category average of 1.11%. So, VIGRX 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.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Growth Index Investor has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Growth Index Investor looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Large Cap Growth segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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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