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If you have been looking for Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds, a place to start could be Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade Admiral (VFIDX). VFIDX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify VFIDX in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, an area rife with potential choices. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds target the middle part of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. At these maturity levels, fixed income instruments have medium duration risk--but they compensate investors with a respectable yield compared to shorter maturity options. Finally, a focus on investment grade ensures that these funds are safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
VFIDX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Intermediate-Term Investment-Grade Admiral made its debut in February of 2001, and since then, VFIDX has accumulated about $33.35 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Daniel Shaykevich who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2018.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VFIDX has a 5-year annualized total return of 1.18% and is in the top 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 -0.92%, 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 11.57%, the standard deviation of VFIDX over the past three years is 8.98%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 7.73% compared to the category average of 11.89%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 1.01, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VFIDX has a positive alpha of 1.95, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.