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Is TPINX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Templeton Global Bond A (TPINX - Free Report) at this time. TPINX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

TPINX finds itself in the Franklin Templeton family, based out of San Mateo, CA. The Templeton Global Bond A made its debut in September of 1986 and TPINX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.11 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Michael Hasenstab who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2001.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of -2.32%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -4.8%, which places it in the bottom 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 TPINX over the past three years is 5.02% compared to the category average of 12.95%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 5.28% compared to the category average of 11.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

TPINX carries a beta of -0.17, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -3.16, 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, TPINX has 45.74% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 32.25% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, 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, TPINX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 0.90%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, TPINX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Templeton Global Bond A ( TPINX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about TPINX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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