Is Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Are you on the hunt for a Large Cap Blend fund? You should think about starting with Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus (VITPX). The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

We note that VITPX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a ” buy and hold ” mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VITPX. The Vanguard Institutional Total Stock Market Plus made its debut in May of 2001 and VITPX has managed to accumulate roughly $28.48 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Walter Nejman is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since April of 2016.

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. VITPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.89% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 19.06%, 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. The standard deviation of VITPX over the past three years is 16.25% compared to the category average of 15.26%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.71% compared to the category average of 14.81%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.02, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio’s performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -0.84, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.