Looking for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? You may want to consider Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securites Admiral (VAIPX) as a possible option. VAIPX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), 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 VAIPX. Since Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securites Admiral made its debut in June of 2005, VAIPX has garnered more than $14.68 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, John Madziyire, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2021.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.14%, and is in the middle 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 -2.1%, which places it in the middle 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 12.18%, the standard deviation of VAIPX over the past three years is 6.89%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.99% compared to the category average of 12.38%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.76, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VAIPX has a positive alpha of 2.05, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VAIPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.10% compared to the category average of 0.82%. So, VAIPX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.