Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWSTX)

Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VWSTX) is a popular bond mutual fund. This investment fund uses its assets to purchase municipal bonds in the top three credit-rating categories as determined by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization or determined by adviser.

The fund objective is to provide current income that is exempt from federal personal income taxes, with limited price volatility. It has a tax free yield of 0.70%.

VWSTX Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 09/01/1977
• Ticker Symbol: VWSTX
• CUSIP: 922907100
• Beta (3yr): 0.07
• Rank in category (YTD): 80%
• Category: Muni National Short
• Distribution Yield: 0.95%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.19%
• Net Assets: $ 14.80 billion
• Number of Years Up: 37 years
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 29%

Updated June 2017

The fund manager is Pamela Wisehaupt Tynan since 1996. It has a low expense fee of 0.20%. The total assets are $12.7 billion. The portfolio turnover rate is 27%. The current 30-day SEC yield is 0.40%. The share price is $15.83.

Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Return

Morningstar has ranked this fund with 2 star & silver rating. In 2014, the total return is only 0.65%. The average 3 year return is 0.65%. This short term municipal bond fund has returned 0.89% over the past 5 year, and 2.06% over the past 10 year. The best 1 year total return was occurred in 2000 with return of 4.91%.

Year	Return
2013	0.48%
2014	0.65%
2015	0.45%
2016	0.36%
2017	0.99%(YTD)

You can buy this fund for your regular brokerage & individual retirement account (IRA). The initial funding is $3,000. Additional investment can be done with as little as $1. There are 78 brokerages offer this muni bond fund.

Top 5 bond sectors are State and Local General Obligation, Transportation, Education, Health, and Water & Sewer. There are 1641 bonds in its portfolio. The average coupon is 2.4%. The fund has an average duration of 1 year.

More: Vanguard Funds

Pros:

• This Vanguard Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund has a low expense fee.
• The income from the yield is tax free from federal tax rate.

Cons:

• Its performance is not great due to short term bond fund.

More: Best Performing National Intermediate Municipal Bond Mutual Funds 2015