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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund could think about starting with Federated Institutional High Yield Bond (FIHBX - Free Report) . FIHBX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Federated is based in Pittsburgh, PA, and is the manager of FIHBX. Federated Institutional High Yield Bond made its debut in November of 2002, and since then, FIHBX has accumulated about $7.52 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Mark E. Durbiano is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2002.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.77%, 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 8.33%, 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. The standard deviation of FIHBX over the past three years is 8.67% compared to the category average of 12.03%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.08% compared to the category average of 9.97%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
FIHBX carries a beta of 0.47, 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 3.78, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, FIHBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 1%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FIHBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1 million; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Federated Institutional High Yield Bond ( FIHBX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FIHBX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is FIHBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund could think about starting with Federated Institutional High Yield Bond (FIHBX - Free Report) . FIHBX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Federated is based in Pittsburgh, PA, and is the manager of FIHBX. Federated Institutional High Yield Bond made its debut in November of 2002, and since then, FIHBX has accumulated about $7.52 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Mark E. Durbiano is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2002.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.77%, 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 8.33%, 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. The standard deviation of FIHBX over the past three years is 8.67% compared to the category average of 12.03%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.08% compared to the category average of 9.97%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
FIHBX carries a beta of 0.47, 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 3.78, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, FIHBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 1%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FIHBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1 million; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Federated Institutional High Yield Bond ( FIHBX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FIHBX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.