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There are plenty of choices in the Diversified Bonds category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is PIMCO Income Institutional (PIMIX - Free Report) . PIMIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Diversified Bonds funds is an area filled with options, such as PIMIX. Investors looking for exposure to a variety of fixed income types that stretch across issuers, maturities, and credit levels will find a good fit with Diversified Bonds funds. Typically, these funds have a solid amount of exposure to government debt, as well as modest holdings in the corporate bond market.
History of Fund/Manager
PIMIX is a part of the PIMCO Funds family of funds, a company based out of Newport Beach, CA. PIMCO Income Institutional debuted in April of 2007. Since then, PIMIX has accumulated assets of about $78.01 billion, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.51%, 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 5.48%, which places it in the middle 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 13.76%, the standard deviation of PIMIX over the past three years is 5.72%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 4.54% compared to the category average of 11.39%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.35, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PIMIX has a positive alpha of 3.73, 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, PIMIX has 21.55% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 30.31% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 40.27%, giving PIMIX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, PIMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.50% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, PIMIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, PIMCO Income Institutional ( PIMIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, PIMCO Income Institutional ( PIMIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Diversified Bonds 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 PIMIX 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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Is PIMIX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Diversified Bonds category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is PIMCO Income Institutional (PIMIX - Free Report) . PIMIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Diversified Bonds funds is an area filled with options, such as PIMIX. Investors looking for exposure to a variety of fixed income types that stretch across issuers, maturities, and credit levels will find a good fit with Diversified Bonds funds. Typically, these funds have a solid amount of exposure to government debt, as well as modest holdings in the corporate bond market.
History of Fund/Manager
PIMIX is a part of the PIMCO Funds family of funds, a company based out of Newport Beach, CA. PIMCO Income Institutional debuted in April of 2007. Since then, PIMIX has accumulated assets of about $78.01 billion, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.51%, 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 5.48%, which places it in the middle 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 13.76%, the standard deviation of PIMIX over the past three years is 5.72%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 4.54% compared to the category average of 11.39%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.35, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PIMIX has a positive alpha of 3.73, 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, PIMIX has 21.55% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 30.31% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 40.27%, giving PIMIX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, PIMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.50% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, PIMIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, PIMCO Income Institutional ( PIMIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, PIMCO Income Institutional ( PIMIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Diversified Bonds 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 PIMIX 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.