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If you have been looking for Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds, a place to start could be PIMCO Total Return Institutional (PTTRX - Free Report) . PTTRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PTTRX is one of many Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds to pick from. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds focus on the middle part of the curve, generally with bonds that usually mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have medium duration risk, but they also compensate investors with a modest yield, at least when compared to their short maturity counterparts. Additionally, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
PTTRX finds itself in the PIMCO Funds family, based out of Newport Beach, CA. PIMCO Total Return Institutional made its debut in May of 1987, and since then, PTTRX has accumulated about $53.70 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.7%, and it sits in the middle 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 5.14%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 12.41%, the standard deviation of PTTRX over the past three years is 3.41%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3.21% compared to the category average of 10.84%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
PTTRX carries a beta of 0.96, 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 0.7, 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, PTTRX has 69% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 25% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, PTTRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 0.81%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PTTRX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1 million, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, PIMCO Total Return Institutional ( PTTRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, PIMCO Total Return Institutional ( PTTRX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is PTTRX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you have been looking for Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds, a place to start could be PIMCO Total Return Institutional (PTTRX - Free Report) . PTTRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PTTRX is one of many Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds to pick from. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds focus on the middle part of the curve, generally with bonds that usually mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have medium duration risk, but they also compensate investors with a modest yield, at least when compared to their short maturity counterparts. Additionally, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
PTTRX finds itself in the PIMCO Funds family, based out of Newport Beach, CA. PIMCO Total Return Institutional made its debut in May of 1987, and since then, PTTRX has accumulated about $53.70 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.7%, and it sits in the middle 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 5.14%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 12.41%, the standard deviation of PTTRX over the past three years is 3.41%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3.21% compared to the category average of 10.84%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
PTTRX carries a beta of 0.96, 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 0.7, 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, PTTRX has 69% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 25% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, PTTRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 0.81%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PTTRX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1 million, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, PIMCO Total Return Institutional ( PTTRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, PIMCO Total Return Institutional ( PTTRX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.