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Is TRBUX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund could think about starting with T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond (TRBUX - Free Report) . TRBUX 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/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of TRBUX. T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond made its debut in December of 2012, and since then, TRBUX has accumulated about $3.50 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Alexander Obaza, has been in charge of the fund since March of 2020.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.74%, and is 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 1.3%, 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, TRBUX's standard deviation comes in at 1.92%, compared to the category average of 8.15%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 1.49% compared to the category average of 7.17%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 0.13, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, TRBUX has a positive alpha of 0.66, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, TRBUX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.33% compared to the category average of 0.68%. From a cost perspective, TRBUX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond ( TRBUX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond ( TRBUX ) 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 Mutual Fund Bond, 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.


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