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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund might consider looking past Schwab California Tax-Free Bond Fund (SWCAX - Free Report) . SWCAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
SWCAX is a part of the Schwab Funds family of funds, a company based out of San Francisco, CA. Since Schwab California Tax-Free Bond Fund made its debut in February of 1992, SWCAX has garnered more than $408.01 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.95%, 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 -1.13%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 4.82%, the standard deviation of SWCAX over the past three years is 4.9%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 4.54% compared to the category average of 4.65%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
SWCAX carries a beta of 0.73, 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 -0.7, 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, SWCAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 0.77%. SWCAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Schwab California Tax-Free Bond Fund ( SWCAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on SWCAXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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Is SWCAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund might consider looking past Schwab California Tax-Free Bond Fund (SWCAX - Free Report) . SWCAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
SWCAX is a part of the Schwab Funds family of funds, a company based out of San Francisco, CA. Since Schwab California Tax-Free Bond Fund made its debut in February of 1992, SWCAX has garnered more than $408.01 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.95%, 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 -1.13%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 4.82%, the standard deviation of SWCAX over the past three years is 4.9%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 4.54% compared to the category average of 4.65%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
SWCAX carries a beta of 0.73, 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 -0.7, 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, SWCAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 0.77%. SWCAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Schwab California Tax-Free Bond Fund ( SWCAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on SWCAXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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.