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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 has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PONAX finds itself in the PIMCO Funds family, based out of Newport Beach, CA. PIMCO Income A made its debut in April of 2007, and since then, PONAX has accumulated about $13.37 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by 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 1.47%, and is in the middle 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 -0.33%, 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 14.29%, the standard deviation of PONAX over the past three years is 6.54%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 5.16% compared to the category average of 12.7%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
PONAX carries a beta of 0.29, 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 0.6, 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 42.28% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 23.74% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 33.47%, giving PONAX an average quality of A. This means that it 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, 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 similar 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. 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 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 has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PONAX finds itself in the PIMCO Funds family, based out of Newport Beach, CA. PIMCO Income A made its debut in April of 2007, and since then, PONAX has accumulated about $13.37 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by 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 1.47%, and is in the middle 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 -0.33%, 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 14.29%, the standard deviation of PONAX over the past three years is 6.54%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 5.16% compared to the category average of 12.7%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
PONAX carries a beta of 0.29, 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 0.6, 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 42.28% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 23.74% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 33.47%, giving PONAX an average quality of A. This means that it 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, 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 similar 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.