Having trouble finding a Sector – Health fund? Vanguard Health Care Admiral (VGHAX) is a potential starting point. VGHAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes VGHAX as Sector – Health, a segment packed with options. Sector – Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
Vanguard Group is responsible for VGHAX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Health Care Admiral made its debut in November of 2001, and since then, VGHAX has accumulated about $34.33 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Rebecca Sykes is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since May of 2023.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.72%, 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 9.57%, 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. Over the past three years, VGHAX’s standard deviation comes in at 13.29%, compared to the category average of 13.2%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 13.76% compared to the category average of 14.58%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.58, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio’s performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. VGHAX’s 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -1.34, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.