Looking for an Index fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Admiral (VIMAX) as a possible option. VIMAX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VIMAX. Since Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, VIMAX has garnered more than $61.97 billion in assets. Aurelie Denis is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2023.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 11.12%, 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 2.96%, 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, VIMAX's standard deviation comes in at 19.38%, compared to the category average of 0%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 20.54% compared to the category average of 24%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. VIMAX has a 5-year beta of 1.08, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -4.81, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VIMAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.05% compared to the category average of 26%. So, VIMAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
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 VIMAXin the Index 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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