Vanguard, established by John C. Bogle in 1975, has evolved into a global investment powerhouse with $12 trillion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2025. Based in Valley Forge, PA, the company employs more than 20,000 people and manages a broad lineup of 465 funds across U.S. and international markets, serving tens of millions of investors worldwide.
Unlike most asset managers, Vanguard operates under a mutual ownership model, with its funds owning the company on behalf of shareholders. This structure supports its emphasis on keeping investing costs low through no-load funds and highly competitive expense ratios. A pioneer in index investing, Vanguard has helped reshape long-term investing by making diversified, low-cost investment products widely available.
Below, we share with you three top-ranked Vanguard mutual funds, namely Vanguard Equity Income Fund VEIPX, Vanguard Global Wellington Investor VGWLX and Vanguard PRIMECAP Investor Shares VPMCX. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.
Vanguard Equity Income Fund primarily invests in dividend-paying, undervalued mid- and large-cap stocks with a history of consistent dividend payments, while maintaining a substantial allocation to equity securities and employing two investment advisors.
Vanguard Equity Income Fund has three-year annualized returns of 15.9%. As of March 2026, VEIPX held 209 issues, with 5.6% of its assets invested in Broadcom.
Vanguard Global Wellington Investor primarily invests in undervalued large- and mid-cap U.S. and international value stocks with improvement potential, while the remainder is allocated to domestic and foreign fixed-income securities for income generation.
Vanguard Global Wellington Investor has three-year annualized returns of 13.6%. VGWLX has an expense ratio of 0.41%.
Vanguard PRIMECAP Investor Shares primarily invests in large- and mid-cap stocks with strong earnings growth potential that the advisor believes are undervalued relative to their long-term prospects.
Vanguard PRIMECAP Investor Shares has three-year annualized returns of 28.2%. Joel P. Fried has been one of the fund managers of VPMCX since 1988.
To view the Zacks Rank and the past performance of all Vanguard mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of Vanguard mutual funds.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
