Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBINX) Investor Shares

Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBINX) is a popular balanced mutual fund. This investor shares fund invests in stocks and bonds. It also provides dividend yield for income.

The fund objective is to track the performance of a broad, market-weighted bond index and a benchmark index that measures the investment return of the overall U.S. stock market. This mutual fund is using 60% of its assets to track the investment performance of the CRSP U.S. Total Market Index and approximately 40% of its assets to track the investment performance of the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index.

VBINX Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: November 9, 1992
• Ticker Symbol: VBINX (Investor Shares)
• CUSIP: 921931101
• Beta (3yr): 0.92
• Rank in category (YTD): 48%
• Category: Moderate Allocation
• Yield: 1.81%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.23%  
• Net Assets: $ 26.50 billion
• Number of Years Up: 17 years
• Number of Years Down: 5 years
• Average Duration: 7.9 years
• Average Maturity: 5.7 years

This Vanguard Balanced Index Fund is managed by Joshua C. Barrickman, Christine D. Franquin, and Christopher E. Wrazen. Its annual expense fee is 0.23%. The current dividend yield is 1.81%. This fund is popular with investor. It has $26 billion of assets.

Vanguard Fund Returns

Morningstar has ranked this top fund with 4 star and gold rating. In 2015, it has year-to-date return of 2.32%. This moderate allocation fund has returned 10.58% over the past 3 years, and 11.19% over the past 5 years. Past 5 years performance is as follows:

• Year 2014: 9.84%
• Year 2013: 17.91%
• Year 2012: 11.33%
• Year 2011: 4.14%
• Year 2010: 13.13%

This balanced fund has 6266 bonds and 3403 stocks in its portfolio. Top 3 equity sectors are financials, healthcare, and consumer services. Top 3 bond sectors are US Treasury/agency, government mortgage backed, and industrial. As of July 2015, top 8 stocks in its assets are:

1. Apple Inc.
2. Exxon Mobil Corp.
3. Microsoft Corp.
4. Google Inc.
5. Johnson & Johnson
6. Wells Fargo & Co.
7. JPMorgan Chase & Co.
8. General Electric Co.

Investment Risks

This fund is subject to stock and bond market risks. The investment risks are stock market risk, interest rate risk, income risk, call risk, credit risk, etc.

More: American Funds Global Balanced Fund (GBLAX)

Pros:

• This Vanguard Balanced Index Fund is a great choice for passive investors due to its diversification.
• It provides yield for income.

Cons:

• None

More: Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund (DODBX)