Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX)

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) is one of top index mutual funds. This Vanguard fund is also one of the largest investment funds in the world.

Vanguard not only provide various investment funds. It also provides brokerage services, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, and more. One of the top and popular mutual funds is Vanguard Total Stock Market fund. Details review can be found below.

Vanguard Total Stock Market Inv (Ticker: VTSMX)

As part of index fund, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund objective is to mimic the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of the overall stock market in US stock market. This Vanguard fund uses MSCI US Broad Market Index. This fund invests in more than 3,000 stocks representative of the whole U.S. market. This index fund represents 99.5% or more of the total market capitalization of all the U.S. common stocks regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market.

VTSMX Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: August 1994
• Ticker Symbol: VTSMX (Investor Class)
• CUSIP: 922908306                                   
• Beta (3yr): 1.03 
• Rank in category (YTD): 29
• Category: Large Blend    
• Dividend Yield: 1.76%
• Expense Ratio: 0.15%
• Sales Load: 0%
• Capital Gains: N/A           
• Number of Years Up: 13 years     
• Number of Years Down: 5 years

Updated May 2017

As typical Vanguard fund, Vanguard Total Stock Market also has a low expense ratio. This fund only has 0.17% annual expense ratio. One of the main reasons to invest in Vanguard fund is its low fee. As a conscious investor, low expense ratio can be a good thing in a long term investment strategy. Lower fee means more return for us the investor. The fund’s lead manager is Gerard C. O’Reilly since 1994. As typical vanguard fund, this Vanguard Total Stock Market fund doesn’t have a sales load fee. The fund total net assets are $169 billion.

The fund also receives 4 stars rating from Morningstar. The fund has returned 27.21% over the past year and 1.91% over the past 3 year. The fund has its best performance year in 2003 with 31.35%. Its worst performance return occurred in 2008 with -37.04%.

• Year 2017: 6.87% (YTD)
• Year 2016: 12.53%
• Year 2015: 0.29%
• Year 2014: 12.43%
• Year 2013: 33.35%

You will need $3,000 minimum balance to invest in this fund in your regular brokerage account as well as retirement account (IRA). This fund is available to many investors. Investors can buy this fund through 85 brokerages. The best way to invest in this fund is by opening Vanguard Brokerage account. You can do this online or by phone or by mail. This fund also has other classes such as Admiral Shares (Ticker: VTSAX), Exchange traded fund or ETF (Ticker: VTI).

The primary portfolio consists of large cap blend stocks. The top 8 sectors of fund as June 2011 are Information Technology, Financials, Healthcare, Energy, Industrial, Consumer Discretionary, consumer staples, and materials sector. The top 10 largest equity holdings for this fund include Exxon Mobil, Apple Inc, Chevron Corp, General Electric, International Business Machines (IBM), Microsoft Corp, Procter & Gamble, AT&T Inc, Johnson & Johnson, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Disclosure: I have long term position in my 401k account.

Other Large Cap Stock Funds:

• Auxier Focus Investor Class (AUXFX)
• Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX)