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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with PIMCO Income A (PONAX - Free Report) is one possibility. PONAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PIMCO Funds is based in Newport Beach, CA, and is the manager of PONAX. The PIMCO Income A made its debut in April of 2007 and PONAX has managed to accumulate roughly $16.75 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.48%, and it sits 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 4.88%, 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. PONAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 5.74% compared to the category average of 13.34%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 4.56% compared to the category average of 11.65%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
PONAX carries a beta of 0.34, 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 2.49, 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, PONAX 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 PONAX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium 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, PONAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90% compared to the category average of 0.83%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PONAX 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 $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, PIMCO Income A ( PONAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, PIMCO Income A ( PONAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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 PONAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with PIMCO Income A (PONAX - Free Report) is one possibility. PONAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PIMCO Funds is based in Newport Beach, CA, and is the manager of PONAX. The PIMCO Income A made its debut in April of 2007 and PONAX has managed to accumulate roughly $16.75 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.48%, and it sits 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 4.88%, 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. PONAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 5.74% compared to the category average of 13.34%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 4.56% compared to the category average of 11.65%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
PONAX carries a beta of 0.34, 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 2.49, 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, PONAX 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 PONAX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium 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, PONAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90% compared to the category average of 0.83%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PONAX 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 $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, PIMCO Income A ( PONAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, PIMCO Income A ( PONAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.