If you have been looking for Diversified Bonds funds, a place to start could be PGIM Global Total Return A (GTRAX Quick QuoteGTRAX - Free Report) . GTRAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

GTRAX is one of many Diversified Bonds funds to choose from. Diversified Bonds funds give investors exposure to a variety of fixed income types that span across different issuers, maturities, and credit levels. Usually, these funds will have a good amount of exposure to government debt, in addition to modest holdings in the corporate bond market.

History of Fund/Manager

GTRAX is a part of the PGIM family of funds, a company based out of Providence, RI. PGIM Global Total Return A debuted in July of 1986. Since then, GTRAX has accumulated assets of about $281.74 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. GTRAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.46% and is in the top 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 6.06%, 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, GTRAX's standard deviation comes in at 7.84%, compared to the category average of 12.06%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.34% compared to the category average of 10.6%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 1.28, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, GTRAX has a positive alpha of 0.54, 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, GTRAX has 46.42% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 43.08% 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

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, GTRAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.88% compared to the category average of 0.88%. So, GTRAX is actually on par with its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, PGIM Global Total Return A ( GTRAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and on par fees, PGIM Global Total Return A ( GTRAX ) 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 Diversified Bonds, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.