We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A (LALDX - Free Report) . LALDX holds 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
LALDX is a part of the Lord Abbett family of funds, a company based out of Jersey City, NJ. The Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A made its debut in November of 1993 and LALDX has managed to accumulate roughly $11.63 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.6%, and is 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 1.01%, 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. The standard deviation of LALDX over the past three years is 4.51% compared to the category average of 13.46%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 3.52% compared to the category average of 11.91%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
LALDX carries a beta of 0.28, 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 0.52, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, LALDX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.58% compared to the category average of 0.65%. So, LALDX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A ( LALDX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A ( LALDX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on LALDXin the Mutual Fund Bond 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.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is LALDX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A (LALDX - Free Report) . LALDX holds 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
LALDX is a part of the Lord Abbett family of funds, a company based out of Jersey City, NJ. The Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A made its debut in November of 1993 and LALDX has managed to accumulate roughly $11.63 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.6%, and is 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 1.01%, 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. The standard deviation of LALDX over the past three years is 4.51% compared to the category average of 13.46%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 3.52% compared to the category average of 11.91%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
LALDX carries a beta of 0.28, 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 0.52, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, LALDX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.58% compared to the category average of 0.65%. So, LALDX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A ( LALDX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Lord Abbett Short Duration Income A ( LALDX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on LALDXin the Mutual Fund Bond 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.