Government Bond - Long fund seekers should consider taking a look at Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Investor (VUSTX Quick QuoteVUSTX - Free Report) . VUSTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes VUSTX as Government Bond - Long, which is an area packed with options. In their portfolios, Government Bond - Long funds hold securities issued by the United States' federal government, which are often seen as risk-free assets and described as extremely low-risk from a default perspective. Focusing on the long end of the curve, this fund category results in higher yields, but greater sensitivity to interest rate fluctuations.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VUSTX. The Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Investor made its debut in May of 1986 and VUSTX has managed to accumulate roughly $791.92 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Gemma Wright Casparius is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2015.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.12%, and is in the top 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 7.01%, which places it in the top 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, VUSTX's standard deviation comes in at 13.16%, compared to the category average of 14.8%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 12.04% compared to the category average of 12.82%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

VUSTX carries a beta of 3.32, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -4.23, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, VUSTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.20% compared to the category average of 0.82%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VUSTX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Investor ( VUSTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Long-Term Treasury Investor ( VUSTX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Government Bond - Long 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 VUSTX to its peers 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.