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If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Bond fund category, then a potential option is Goldman Sachs Local Emerging Markets Debt A (GAMDX - Free Report) . GAMDX has 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
Goldman Sachs is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of GAMDX. Goldman Sachs Local Emerging Markets Debt A made its debut in February of 2008, and since then, GAMDX has accumulated about $3.84 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -3.8%, and is in the bottom 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 -7.12%, 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 15.85%, the standard deviation of GAMDX over the past three years is 13.17%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.08% compared to the category average of 14.06%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.22, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, GAMDX has a negative alpha of -2.92, 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, GAMDX has 30.26% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 26.58%, giving GAMDX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
However, it is worth noting that 26 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.
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, GAMDX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.21% compared to the category average of 1.12%. So, GAMDX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Goldman Sachs Local Emerging Markets Debt A ( GAMDX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond 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. 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 GAMDX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Bond fund category, then a potential option is Goldman Sachs Local Emerging Markets Debt A (GAMDX - Free Report) . GAMDX has 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
Goldman Sachs is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of GAMDX. Goldman Sachs Local Emerging Markets Debt A made its debut in February of 2008, and since then, GAMDX has accumulated about $3.84 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -3.8%, and is in the bottom 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 -7.12%, 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 15.85%, the standard deviation of GAMDX over the past three years is 13.17%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.08% compared to the category average of 14.06%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.22, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, GAMDX has a negative alpha of -2.92, 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, GAMDX has 30.26% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 26.58%, giving GAMDX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
However, it is worth noting that 26 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.
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, GAMDX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.21% compared to the category average of 1.12%. So, GAMDX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Goldman Sachs Local Emerging Markets Debt A ( GAMDX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond 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. 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.