Yahoo Finance Is Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX). The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
VGTSX finds itself in the Vanguard Group family, based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund made its debut in April of 1996, VGTSX has garnered more than $173.96 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Michael Perre who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VGTSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 3.42% 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 4.28%, 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. VGTSX's standard deviation over the past three years is 17.56% compared to the category average of 15.15%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.22% compared to the category average of 15.92%. This makes the fund more 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. VGTSX has a 5-year beta of 0.86, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -5.66. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, VGTSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.80%. From a cost perspective, VGTSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while 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
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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