If you’ve been stuck searching for Index funds, consider Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Institutional (VBTIX) as a possibility. VBTIX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

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Vanguard Group is responsible for VBTIX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Institutional made its debut in September of 1995, VBTIX has garnered more than $45.02 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Joshua Barrickman who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2013.

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. VBTIX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.01% and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of -2.02%, 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.

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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. VBTIX’s standard deviation over the past three years is 7.56% compared to the category average of 12.85%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund’s standard deviation is 6.33% compared to the category average of 13.42%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund’s risk compared to the market as a whole. VBTIX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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 positive alpha of 0. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, VBTIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, VBTIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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