Investors in search of a Sector – Health fund might want to consider looking at Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral (VHCIX). While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.
Objective
Zacks categorizes VHCIX 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 based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VHCIX. Since Vanguard Health Care Index Admiral made its debut in January of 2004, VHCIX has garnered more than $2.59 billion in assets. Kenny Narzikul is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since February of 2025.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VHCIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.17%, 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 9.62%, 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. VHCIX’s standard deviation over the past three years is 13.3% compared to the category average of 15.85%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.23% compared to the category average of 16.64%. 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 0.65, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.57. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.