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On the lookout for a Government Mortgage - Intermediate fund? Starting with Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A (STYAX - Free Report) is one possibility. STYAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
STYAX 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
STYAX is a part of the Wells Fargo family of funds, a company based out of San Francisco, CA. Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A made its debut in July of 1998, and since then, STYAX has accumulated about $289.85 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.01%, 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 6.61%, 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. Compared to the category average of 12.9%, the standard deviation of STYAX over the past three years is 4.39%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3.94% compared to the category average of 10.73%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 1.02, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, STYAX has a positive alpha of 1.7, 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, STYAX has 45.73% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 32.71% 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
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, STYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.89% compared to the category average of 0.78%. From a cost perspective, STYAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A ( STYAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on STYAXin the Government Mortgage - Intermediate 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. 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 STYAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
On the lookout for a Government Mortgage - Intermediate fund? Starting with Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A (STYAX - Free Report) is one possibility. STYAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
STYAX 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
STYAX is a part of the Wells Fargo family of funds, a company based out of San Francisco, CA. Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A made its debut in July of 1998, and since then, STYAX has accumulated about $289.85 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.01%, 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 6.61%, 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. Compared to the category average of 12.9%, the standard deviation of STYAX over the past three years is 4.39%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3.94% compared to the category average of 10.73%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 1.02, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, STYAX has a positive alpha of 1.7, 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, STYAX has 45.73% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 32.71% 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
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, STYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.89% compared to the category average of 0.78%. From a cost perspective, STYAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A ( STYAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on STYAXin the Government Mortgage - Intermediate 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. 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.