If you’ve been stuck searching for Investment Grade Bond – Intermediate funds, consider Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade Investor (VFICX) as a possibility. VFICX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
We note that VFICX is an Investment Grade Bond – Intermediate option, which is a segment loaded with many different investment options. By targeting bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years, Investment Grade Bond – Intermediate funds are a middle of the curve option. Fixed income instruments at this maturity level usually have medium duration risk, but their yields are respectable, especially in comparison to their short-maturity counterparts. Additionally, a focus on investment grade makes these funds safer, but yields tend to be lower than in the junk bond category.
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VFICX. Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade Investor debuted in November of 1993. Since then, VFICX has accumulated assets of about $1.54 billion, according to the most recently available information. Daniel Shaykevich is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since April of 2018.
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 1.64%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you’re interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund’s 3 -year annualized total return of 2.09%, which places it in the top 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. Compared to the category average of 11.44%, the standard deviation of VFICX over the past three years is 8.84%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.57% compared to the category average of 11.84%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
VFICX carries a beta of 0.99, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 2.63, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
