Yahoo Finance Is VFIDX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Bond funds, consider Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade Admiral (VFIDX) as a possibility. VFIDX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
VFIDX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade Admiral made its debut in February of 2001, VFIDX has garnered more than $28.08 billion in assets. Daniel Shaykevich is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2018.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VFIDX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.84% and is 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 -4.98%, 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. Over the past three years, VFIDX's standard deviation comes in at 7.6%, compared to the category average of 11.13%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.96% compared to the category average of 11.88%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 1.09, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VFIDX has a positive alpha of 1.28, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, VFIDX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.75%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VFIDX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade Admiral ( VFIDX ) 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.
Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VFIDX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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