Is Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor (VWINX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor (VWINX) as a possibility. VWINX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VWINX. Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor made its debut in July of 1970, and since then, VWINX has accumulated about $10.40 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Loren L. Moran is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2017.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.96%, and is 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 2.29%, 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. VWINX's standard deviation over the past three years is 10.04% compared to the category average of 14.03%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.39% compared to the category average of 12.09%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.4, the fund is likely to be less 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. VWINX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.85, which means 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, VWINX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.23% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, VWINX is actually cheaper than its peers.
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.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor ( VWINX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Wellesley Income Investor ( VWINX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on VWINXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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