Making investing more affordable for everyone- Admiral Shares™ combine low expense ratios with low investment minimums. Enjoying expense ratios that are, on average, 41% lower than our standard Investor Share class and 82% lower than the industry average.
Lower expense ratios like those provided by Vanguard Admiral Shares generally translate to higher returns. Low costs are an advantage for investors—lower expense ratios and minimums even more so. That makes Vanguard Admiral Shares an intelligent pick for investors who can afford the investment minimums.
Admiral Shares represent a separate class of shares in Vanguard-administered mutual funds, offering lower fees compared to the standard Investor Share class. Vanguard offers Admiral Shares across a select group of mutual funds and requires investors to have a minimum investment in a particular mutual fund.
This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 16.74%, and it sits 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 20.68%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
ETFs carry more flexibility; they trade like stocks and can be bought and sold throughout the day. Mutual fund shares price only once per day, at the end of the trading day, but may benefit from economies of scale. While Vanguard fees are low in many of its products, ETFs tend to be more tax-efficient.
Conversions are allowed from both Investor and Admiral™ Shares and are tax-free if you own your mutual fund and ETF Shares through Vanguard. Keep in mind that you can't convert ETF Shares back to conventional shares.
You can find Vanguard Balanced Index fund investor shares on Fidelity's list of funds you can buy with a transaction fee of $49.95 on purchase, but no fee on redemption. Also, you can't buy the Admiral shares. The Investor shares have a minimum investment of $2,500 and an expense ratio of 0.25 percent.
Key Takeaways. Though both are broad-based equity mutual funds, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX) and the Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares (VFIAX) have different investment objectives.
A top index fund for income-oriented investors is the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT:SDY). The dividend-weighted fund's benchmark is the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, which tracks 119 of the stocks in the S&P Composite 1500 Index with the highest dividend yields.
For the Vanguard Wellington Fund Investor Shares' consistent history of strong risk-adjusted returns and competent management, Morningstar awarded it a five-star overall rating. The fund also earned five-star ratings over the three-, five-, and 10-year periods.
It is great for new investors because it offers a diversified exposure to the stock market. If you invest in this fund, you own large cap growth, large cap value, small cap growth, small cap value, and many other asset classes.
The best total market index funds by popularity include the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Admiral Shares (VTSAX), the Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund (SWTSX), the iShares Russell 3000 (IWVB), and the Wilshire 5000 Index Investment Fund (WFIVX).
VFIAX - Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares | Fidelity Investments.
The S&P 500 represents 500 of the largest U.S. companies. The goal of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) is to track the returns of the S&P 500 index. VOO appeals to investors because it's well-diversified and is made up of equities of large corporations—called large-cap stocks.
Fidelity and Vanguard both do a good job keeping costs fairly low, but Fidelity has a slight edge overall. Both brokers charge zero commission for stock and ETF trades, but Fidelity charges $0.65 per contract on options trades, while Vanguard charges $1 per contract for customers with less than $1 million in assets.
For most Vanguard index funds, any customer with a balance of at least $10,000 can convert their investment from the standard Investor shares to Admiral shares. Most managed funds require a $50,000 minimum to qualify. Previously, investors needed $100,000 in each fund, in each account, to qualify for Admiral class.
It's also more expensive. For example, you can buy Vanguard's flagship index fund, Vanguard 500 Index (VFIAX), through Fidelity, but you'll pay a transaction fee to get it that way. 1 Fidelity charges a fee because Fidelity 500 Index (FXAIX) is a competing fund with identical holdings.