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Is DBLTX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the Government Mortgage - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is DoubleLine Total Return Bond I (DBLTX - Free Report) . DBLTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

DBLTX is one of many Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds to choose from. Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds focus on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market. This market takes mortgages, packages them together, and sells off the pooled securities to investors. This particular category focuses on MBS that usually have at least three years to maturity, but less than 10, giving a medium risk and yield profile to funds here.

History of Fund/Manager

Double Line is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of DBLTX. Since DoubleLine Total Return Bond I made its debut in April of 2010, DBLTX has garnered more than $42.95 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

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 2.98%, and it sits 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 3.99%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.49%, the standard deviation of DBLTX over the past three years is 3.48%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 2.99% compared to the category average of 9.61%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.76, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, DBLTX has a positive alpha of 0.35, 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, DBLTX has 65.86% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher. The fund has an average quality of AA, 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, DBLTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 0.79%. DBLTX 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 $100,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, DoubleLine Total Return Bond I ( DBLTX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Government Mortgage - Intermediate area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into DBLTX too 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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