Vanguard Explorer Value Fund (VEVFX)

This Vanguard Explorer Value Fund (VEVFX) objective is to provide long term capital growth. This mutual fund invests mainly in the stocks of small and mid-size U.S. companies, choosing stocks considered by an advisor to be undervalued. The funds may invest in stocks that have above average dividend yields.

VEVFX Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 03/30/2010
• Ticker Symbol: VEVFX
• CUSIP: 92206C748
• Beta (3yr): 1.13
• Rank in category (YTD): 46%
• Category: Small Blend
• Distribution Yield: 0.83%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.57%
• Net Assets: $ 308.65 million
• Number of Years Up: 2 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Annual Turnover Rate: 36%

More: Top Vanguard Mutual Funds 2015

This Vanguard Explorer Value Fund is managed by Cardinal Capital Management, L.L.C., Frontier Capital Management Co., LLC, and Sterling Capital Management LLC. It has 12-month dividend yield of 0.83%. This Vanguard fund has $308.7 million of assets. Its annual holdings turnover is only 36%. This actively managed mutual fund has an expense ratio is 0.57% per year.

Vanguard Explorer Value Fund Performance

Since this fund was first introduced to public in 2010, it has achieved 2 years of positive return and 1 year of negative return. This popular small blend fund has a 3-year average return of 17.31%. This VEVFX fund has 4-stars rating from Morningstar.

This equity fund’s performance for the past 4 years is as follows:

• Year 2014: 4.80%
• Year 2013: 38.15%
• Year 2012: 18.66%
• Year 2011: -2.36%

You can buy this top Vanguard fund with a minimum initial investment of $3000, for either brokerage or retirement account.  You can buy from your online broker such as Vanguard, TD Ameritrade, Schwab, etc.

More: Top Vanguard Funds 2013

VEVFX Fund Holdings

As of January 2015, the top 5 stocks are Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd, E*Trade Financial Corp, Skyworks Solutions Inc, Howard Hughes Corp, and PacWest Bancorp. Top 3 sectors are financial services, technology, and industrials.

The investment risks include market conditions, investing in stocks, management risk, political risk, etc.

Pros:

• This Vanguard Explorer Value Fund (VEVFX) has no sales load.
• It is easy to invest through brokerage especially through Vanguard.

Cons:

• Expense fee is a bit higher than regular index fund.