Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index mutual fund Class II Shares (VPSKX) rate a +9 Fund Authority Score
Here is some really good news for you. The Skilled Investor has published an article about lower cost S&P 500 index mutual funds that you can read, entitled: Low Cost S&P 500 Index Mutual Funds. The Standard & Poors 500 stock index is the most common equity index fund benchmark in the U.S. The S and P 500 tracks about 75% of publicly traded U.S. equity market asset value.
The Fund Authority Score for the Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index mutual fund -- Class II Shares
Fund Authority Scores rate mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the most important economic factors that influence individual investors' net long term diversified investment fund performance. The Skilled Investor developed the Fund Authority Score system to provide individual investors with concise and objective summaries of mutual funds and ETFs for comparisons within investment asset classes.
Using
an integer scale ranging from -10 to +10, Fund Authority Scores measure
five factors:
1) annualized management and investment sales expenses (40% weighting),
2) annual trading costs implied by investment fund portfolio turnover (30% weighting),
3) inferior and superior historical performance (20% weighting),
4) minimum fund maturity (5% weighting), and
5) minimum fund size for operating efficiency (5% weighting).
For a directory of the Fund Authority Score reports of other mutual funds and ETFs, go here. For the details on how a Fund Authority Score is developed for each mutual fund or ETF, go here.
Fund Authority Summary for Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index mutual fund Class II Shares (VPSKX)
| Fund Authority Summary | Vantagepoint 500 Stock Index II | Fund Authority Score |
|---|---|---|
| FUND AUTHORITY SCORE (scale of -10 to +10) | 9 | |
| FUND AUTHORITY SCORING COMPONENTS | ||
| A) Management expenses & sales loads (-4 to +4) | ||
| -- Annual expense ratio with 12b-1 fees | 0.25% | |
| -- Front-end sales load with 5 year amortization | 0.00% | |
| ----- Total annual direct costs | 0.25% | 4 |
| B) Fund portfolio transactions costs (-3 to +3) | ||
| -- Annual turnover as a trading cost proxy | 4.0% | 3 |
| C) Penalize very inferior historical performance and credit average and superior historical performance (-2 to +2) | ||
| -- Total of the 3 year Morningstar + Lipper ratings | 7 | 1 |
| D) Is this fund sufficiently mature? (0 or +1) | 1 | |
| E) Very small fund efficiency penalty (-1 or 0) | 0 | |
| INVESTMENT FUND OVERVIEW | ||
| -- Type of investment fund | index mutual fund | |
| -- Active versus passive management | passively managed fund | |
| -- Total net assets | $413 Million | |
| -- Type of investment portfolio securities | stocks - equities | |
| -- Geographic focus | United States | |
| -- Market capitalization of portfolio securities | large | |
| -- Strategy skew (value/growth/neither) | neither | |
| -- Target performance benchmark index | Standard and Poors 500 Index | |
| -- Year of inception | 1999 | |
| -- Trading symbol | VPSKX | |
| -- Share class evaluated | Class II Shares | |
| -- Front end load charge (percentage) | 0.00% | |
| -- Minimum initial deposit for individual investor | $0 (in employer-sponsored retirement plan account) | |
| TOP 10 INVESTMENT SECURITIES HOLDINGS | ExxonMobil Corporation (XOM) | |
| General Electric Company (GE) | ||
| Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) | ||
| AT&T Inc. (T) | ||
| Procter & Gamble Company (PG) | ||
| Bank of America Corporation (BAC) | ||
| Citigroup Inc. (C) | ||
| Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) | ||
| Chevron Corporation (CVX) | ||
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | ||
| ----- Top 10 Investment Portfolio Holdings (%) | 19.55% | |
| Fund family website | www.icmarc.org | |
| Customer service telephone number | 800-669-7400 | |
| SEC EDGAR filings and/or fund website accessed | 30 December 2007 |
NOTES:
--
Most
mutual funds and ETFs change their fees and trading strategies
relatively little over time. Because investment expenses,
trading/turnover costs, fund maturity, and operating efficiency account
for 80% of the Fund Authority Score rating system, Fund Authority
Scores tend to remain relatively stable over time for such consistent
investment funds.
-- The date in the table
above indicates
when fund information was accessed from SEC EDGAR filings and/or the
fund company website. Normally, data used to develop Fund
Authority
Scores rely upon reporting periods ending the previous calendar quarter
or half year.
-- Unless otherwise stated,
there are no
business arrangements of any kind between The Skilled Investor
and any
financial product, service, or company that may be discussed in our
publication's articles.
-- Fund Authority
Scores are developed
on a fund by fund basis. Just because a mutual fund or ETF has a high
Fund Authority Score does not mean that other funds from that fund
family do, as well. On your own, always be careful to check current
management expenses, sales loads, portfolio turnover, fund maturity,
fund size, fund performance, and other current factors before investing
in any diversified investment fund.
-- If you do not need and/or are unwilling to pay the direct and indirect costs of an investment counselor, stock broker, or other financial advisory intermediary, you should note that many mutual funds can be purchased directly from diversified investment fund families by accessing their websites or by calling their customer service telephone numbers. Similarly many ETFs can be purchased with lower transactions fees through discount brokers. (See these articles: Payment of Investment Advisors, Financial Planners, and Investment Counselors)
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