Any investors hoping to find a Government Bond - Intermediate fund could think about starting with Performance Trust Total Return Bond (PTIAX Quick QuotePTIAX - Free Report) . PTIAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes PTIAX as Government Bond - Intermediate, which is a segment packed with options. Holding securities issued by the U.S. federal government, Government Bond - Intermediate funds are often seen as risk-free assets and are described as extremely low-risk from a default perspective. These kind of funds carry the risk and return potential that falls between short and long government bonds, and are best suited for those looking to complement an existing core bond portfolio.

History of Fund/Manager

PTIAX finds itself in the Performance family, based out of New York, NY. Performance Trust Total Return Bond debuted in August of 2010. Since then, PTIAX has accumulated assets of about $3.86 billion, according to the most recently available information. G. Plaiss is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2013.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.9%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.39%, 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. PTIAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 4.53% compared to the category average of 7.32%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 3.77% compared to the category average of 5.85%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

PTIAX carries a beta of 0.9, 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 1.28, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, PTIAX has 64.59% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.

Expenses

Costs 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, PTIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PTIAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $500.

Bottom Line

Overall, Performance Trust Total Return Bond ( PTIAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Performance Trust Total Return Bond ( PTIAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Government Bond - Intermediate, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.