On the lookout for a Allocation Balanced fund? Starting with Vanguard Wellesley Income Admiral (VWIAX) is one possibility. VWIAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
The world of Zacks’ Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as VWIAX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VWIAX. Vanguard Wellesley Income Admiral debuted in May of 2001. Since then, VWIAX has accumulated assets of about $40.29 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund’s current manager, Loren Moran, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2017.
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.47%, and it sits in the bottom 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 5.43%, which places it in the bottom 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. VWIAX’s standard deviation over the past three years is 9.11% compared to the category average of 11.89%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.57% compared to the category average of 11.33%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a 5-year beta of 0.45, the fund 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. VWIAX’s 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.