How the Cards Fell for 11 Large-Cap Mutual Funds in 2015
Vanguard Growth Index Fund
The Vanguard Growth Index Fund – Investor Shares (VIGRX) is an index fund, which means that it passively tracks an index and is not actively managed. The fund is “designed to track the performance of the CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index, a broadly diversified index predominantly made up of growth stocks of large U.S. companies. The Fund attempts to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the stocks that make up the Index.”
As of the end of December, VIGRX was invested in 351 stocks, the same as its benchmark index. It was managing assets worth $49.9 billion as of the end of December. As of December, its equity holdings included Coca-Cola (KO), Philip Morris (PM), McDonald’s (MCD), 3M (MMM), and AbbVie (ABBV), comprising a combined 6.8% of the fund’s equity holdings.
Historical portfolios
Investors should remember that VIGRX is an index-tracking fund. Thus, when we talk about its portfolio details, we’re essentially discussing the underlying index.
The information technology sector forms 30% of the fund’s portfolio and is the single largest sector for the fund. The consumer discretionary sector follows, making up ~23% of the fund’s assets. Healthcare is the only other sector whose composition is above 10%. It forms 15.5% of the portfolio.
The index rebalancing has resulted in the consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and healthcare sectors forming more of the fund’s portfolio than they used to a year ago. On the other hand, energy and financials form less than they used to a year ago.
Let’s see how the fund has fared in 2015 in the next article. The fund’s performance will be a surrogate benchmark for US large-cap mutual funds.
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