If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Vanguard Short-Term Federal Investor (VSGBX) could be a potential option. VSGBX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.History of Fund/ManagerVanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VSGBX. The Vanguard Short-Term Federal Investor made its debut in December of 1987 and VSGBX has managed to accumulate roughly $672.46 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Brian Quigley, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2015.PerformanceOf course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.76%, and it sits in the top 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 3.07%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.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, VSGBX's standard deviation comes in at 1.15%, compared to the category average of 8.22%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 1.19% compared to the category average of 6.88%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.VSGBX carries a beta of 0.22, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.11, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.ExpensesCosts are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, VSGBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.20% compared to the category average of 0.65%. From a cost perspective, VSGBX 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.Bottom LineOverall, Vanguard Short-Term Federal Investor ( VSGBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $2.4 trillion by 2028 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Recommendations from previous editions of this report have produced gains of +205%, +258% and +477%. The stocks in this report could perform even better.See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Get Your Free (VSGBX): Fund Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research