There are plenty of choices in the Government Bond - Short category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard Short Term Inflation Protected Security Index Advisor (VTAPX). VTAPX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

Objective

The world of Government Bond - Short funds is an area filled with options, such as VTAPX. Government Bond - Short funds hold securities issued by the federal government of the United States of America. These are seen as extremely low risk securities from a default perspective, and are often regarded as risk-free assets. This category focuses on the short end of the curve, and that results in lower yields, but also less sensitivity to interest rate fluctuations, too.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VTAPX. Vanguard Short Term Inflation Protected Security Index Advisor debuted in October of 2012. Since then, VTAPX has accumulated assets of about $20.20 billion, according to the most recently available information. Joshua Barrickman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2012.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.04%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 1.89%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. VTAPX's standard deviation over the past three years is 3.2% compared to the category average of 12.01%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 2.84% compared to the category average of 12.43%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 0.22, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, VTAPX has a positive alpha of 1.57, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, VTAPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.06% compared to the category average of 0.83%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VTAPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

For additional information on the Government Bond - Short area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into VTAPX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.

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