Founded by John C. Bogle in 1975, Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies. With around $4 trillion of assets under management (as of December 31, 2016), the company offers about 180 domestic funds and 190 funds for foreign markets. It offers asset management and financial planning services to clients throughout the globe.
Vanguard stands out from the other mutual fund companies because it is owned by the funds themselves. The company believes that this structure helps management focus better on shareholder interests. Among the advantages Vanguard claims to offer, low-cost and no-load are the most notable.
Below we share with you three top-ranked Vanguard mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of Vanguard funds, their Zacks Rank and past performance.
Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Investor VSTCX seeks growth of capital over the long run. VSTCX invests the lion’s share of its assets in securities of domestic small cap companies that are expected to be undervalued as well as have strong growth prospects. VSTCX seeks to maintain a risk profile similar to the MSCI US Small Cap 1750 Index. The Vanguard Strategic Small-Cap Equity Investor fund has returned 22% over the last one-year period.
As of March 2017, VSTCX held 291 issues with 0.85% of its assets invested in The Chemours Co.
Vanguard Equity-Income Investor VEIPX invests in a diversified group of large and mid-capitalization stocks with above-average dividend yields and reasonable prospects for long-term price appreciation. The fund seeks a high level of dividend income and long-term growth of income and capital. Vanguard Equity-Income Investor has returned 16.7% over the last one-year period.
VEIPX has an expense ratio of 0.26% compared with the category average of 1.06%.
Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Investor VFSTX seeks income while maintaining a high degree of stability of principal. VFSTX invests in a variety of high-quality and, to a lesser extent, medium-quality fixed income securities. VFSTX also invests to a limited extent in non-investment-grade and fixed income securities, mainly short-term and intermediate-term corporate bonds. Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Investor has returned 1.5% over the last one-year period.
Gregory Nassour is the fund manager of VFSTX since 2008.
To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all Vanguard mutual funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds.
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