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Is PTIAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Government Bond - Intermediate fund category, make sure to pass over Performance Trust Total Return Bond (PTIAX - Free Report) . PTIAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify PTIAX in the Government Bond - Intermediate category, an area rife with potential choices. Government Bond - Intermediate funds hold securities issued by the federal government of the United States, and are often seen as risk-free assets; they are also described as extremely low-risk from a default perspective. Best suited for investors looking to balance their existing core bond portfolio, these funds carry the risk and return potential that is between short and long government bonds.

History of Fund/Manager

PTIAX is a part of the Performance family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The Performance Trust Total Return Bond made its debut in August of 2010 and PTIAX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.25 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. G. Michael Plaiss is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2010.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.89%, 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 5.45%, 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. The standard deviation of PTIAX over the past three years is 2.17% compared to the category average of 2.61%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 2.21% compared to the category average of 2.88%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

PTIAX carries a beta of 0.68, 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 2.47, 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, PTIAX has 60.45% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher. 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, PTIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 0.79%. From a cost perspective, PTIAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $500.

Bottom Line

Overall, Performance Trust Total Return Bond ( PTIAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Performance Trust Total Return Bond ( PTIAX ) looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Government Bond - Intermediate, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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