If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Bond fund category, then a possible option is T. Rowe Price Global Multi-Sector Bond Investor (PRSNX Quick QuotePRSNX - Free Report) . PRSNX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRSNX. T. Rowe Price Global Multi-Sector Bond Investor debuted in December of 2008. Since then, PRSNX has accumulated assets of about $664.68 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Kenneth Orchard, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2018.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.23%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.17%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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. Over the past three years, PRSNX's standard deviation comes in at 5.85%, compared to the category average of 12.97%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 7.12% compared to the category average of 13.96%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.53, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PRSNX has a positive alpha of 1.13, 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, PRSNX has 42% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 33.96% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 22.33%, giving PRSNX an average quality of A. This means that it focuses on high 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, PRSNX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 0.81%. PRSNX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond 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 PRSNX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.