5 Best Performing Vanguard Mutual Funds Of Q1

Over the last three years, investors put in $823 billion into Vanguard funds and scooped up around 8.5 times of all its peers. By any measure, these are astounding figures with the company witnessing the best quarterly inflow in the first three months of the year.

Vanguard’s asset under management skyrocketed in the last seven years, with its cheaper index funds outperforming the more expensive mutual funds that rely on smart portfolio managers to pick stocks. With Vanguard growing by leaps and bounds, we suggest funds that recorded the highest returns in the first quarter and are worth a bet.

Vanguard Attracts $121 Billion in Q1

Vanguard drew $121 billion in the first quarter of this year, reflecting a whopping 64% increase from  a year ago. The world’s largest mutual fund company garnered $48 billion in January, $33 billion in February and $40 billion in March. In fact, January and February turned out to be the months with the highest cash flow in the company’s history.

Vanguard emerged as one of the top players in the money management industry as investors focused more on low-cost mutual funds rather than actively managed funds. According to data from Morningstar, passive funds attracted $614 billion, while active funds suffered redemptions or sale of units in a mutual fund to the tune of about $307 billion.

Vanguard Top 5 Selling Funds

The company thrived across the board, with almost all its categories including stock funds, bond funds, domestic funds, international funds, taxable funds and municipal bond funds registering significant growth in the first quarter of 2017. Among the five most popular funds during the first quarter, four of them have “total” in their names. The fifth one, Vanguard 500 Index Investor (VFINX – Free Report) , isn’t far behind. The following table shows the estimated net inflows in the first quarter for the Vanguard’s top five selling funds:

Vanguard’s Top 5 Selling Funds

Estimated Net Flows, Jan-Mar 2017

Total Stock Market

$22 Billion

Total International Stock Market

$10.9 Billion

Index 500

$9.5 Billion

Total International Bond

$9.1 Billion

Total Bond Market ???

$8.8 Billion