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Is Vanguard Small-Cap Value Index Investor (VISVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for a Small Cap Value fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Small-Cap Value Index Investor (VISVX - Free Report) . VISVX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

Objective

The world of Small Cap Value mutual funds is an area filled with options, such as VISVX. Small Cap Value funds invest in small companies with stock market valuation less than $2 billion. These funds offer more bang for an owner's buck, providing low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and better-than-average P/S ratios.

History of Fund/Manager

VISVX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. The Vanguard Small-Cap Value Index Investor made its debut in April of 1998 and VISVX has managed to accumulate roughly $99.46 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, William Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 11.97%, and it sits in the middle 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 6.58%, 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. VISVX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21% compared to the category average of 0%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 23.64% compared to the category average of 21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.14, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. VISVX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -4.1, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 89.8% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $7.84 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Finance
  • Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 16%, this fund makes more trades in a given year than the category average.

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, VISVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.19% compared to the category average of 45%. From a cost perspective, VISVX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Want even more information about VISVX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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