There are plenty of choices in the Allocation Balanced category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund (VASIX). VASIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

VASIX is classified in the Allocation Balanced segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Here, investors are able to get a good head start with diversified mutual funds, and play around with core holding options for a portfolio of funds. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VASIX. Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund debuted in September of 1994. Since then, VASIX has accumulated assets of about $3.89 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.24%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 3.74%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, VASIX's standard deviation comes in at 7.97%, compared to the category average of 7.9%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 7.04% compared to the category average of 7.63%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.35, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. VASIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.83, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.