Yahoo Finance Is VNYTX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Vanguard NY Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor (VNYTX) could be a potential option. VNYTX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VNYTX. Since Vanguard NY Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor made its debut in April of 1986, VNYTX has garnered more than $447.40 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Adam Ferguson, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VNYTX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.08% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.1%, 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. VNYTX's standard deviation over the past three years is 8.91% compared to the category average of 11.22%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.7% compared to the category average of 11.21%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 1.15, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VNYTX has a positive alpha of 0.06, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, VNYTX has 69.19% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 27.16% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VNYTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.17% compared to the category average of 0.82%. From a cost perspective, VNYTX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard NY Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor ( VNYTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard NY Long-Term Tax-Exempt Investor ( VNYTX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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