Fund Evaluator:

Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral Overview

Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral (VTCAX) is a passively managed Sector Equity Communications fund. Vanguard launched the fund in 2005.

The investment seeks to track the performance of the MSCI U.S. Investable Market Index (IMI)/Communication Services 25/50. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the index, an index made up of stocks of large, mid-size and small U.S. companies within the communication services sector, as classified under the GICS. The Advisor attempts to replicate the target index by seeking to invest all of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, in order to hold each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. It is non-diversified.

About Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral (VTCAX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.45 years: Aaron Choi (2025), Chris Nieves (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI US Investable Market 2500 NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI US IMI/Comm Svc 25-50 GR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral has 117 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 68.2% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity fund group. Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral has 0.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 98.5%. There is 0.5% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral has 0.8% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $287 million in total assets, which is below the $442 million average for the Communications category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

VTCAX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Communications category. Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral has an expense ratio of 0.09%, which is 91% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral has a portfolio turnover rate of 12%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 109% for the Communications category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral returned -1.2%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Communications category had an average return of -2.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral has a trailing yield of 1.08%, which is below the 2.64% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Vanguard Communication Svcs Idx Admiral Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned -5.6%, 15.3 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 5.1% over the past year (grade of F), 18.6% over the past three years (grade of F) and 5.8% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 7.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

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