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Investment Grade Bond - Long fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral (VWETX - Free Report) . VWETX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWETX is part of the Investment Grade Bond - Long section, an area loaded with various investment options. Investment Grade Bond - Long funds focus on the long end of the curve, generally with bonds that mature in more than 10 years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have high duration risk, but they also compensate investors with a heftier yield, at least when compared to their short maturity counterparts. Lastly, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VWETX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral made its debut in February of 2001, and since then, VWETX has accumulated about $15.89 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.86%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.6%, 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. Compared to the category average of 12.24%, the standard deviation of VWETX over the past three years is 10.56%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.25% compared to the category average of 10.47%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
VWETX carries a beta of 2.84, 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 -0.13, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, VWETX has 28.83% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 69.61% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, VWETX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.85%. So, VWETX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral ( VWETX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral ( VWETX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Investment Grade 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 VWETX to its peers 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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Is VWETX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Investment Grade Bond - Long fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral (VWETX - Free Report) . VWETX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VWETX is part of the Investment Grade Bond - Long section, an area loaded with various investment options. Investment Grade Bond - Long funds focus on the long end of the curve, generally with bonds that mature in more than 10 years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have high duration risk, but they also compensate investors with a heftier yield, at least when compared to their short maturity counterparts. Lastly, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VWETX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral made its debut in February of 2001, and since then, VWETX has accumulated about $15.89 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.86%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.6%, 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. Compared to the category average of 12.24%, the standard deviation of VWETX over the past three years is 10.56%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.25% compared to the category average of 10.47%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
VWETX carries a beta of 2.84, 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 -0.13, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, VWETX has 28.83% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 69.61% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, VWETX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.12% compared to the category average of 0.85%. So, VWETX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral ( VWETX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Long-Term Investment-Grade Income Admiral ( VWETX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Investment Grade 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 VWETX to its peers 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.