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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Well, Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail (LSBRX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. LSBRX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Loomis-Sayles is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of LSBRX. Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail debuted in May of 1991. Since then, LSBRX has accumulated assets of about $803.88 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.42%, and is in the bottom 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 -2.28%, which places it in the bottom 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. Compared to the category average of 12.38%, the standard deviation of LSBRX over the past three years is 7.31%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 8.04% compared to the category average of 13.33%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.41, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, LSBRX has a negative alpha of -0.44, 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, LSBRX has 22.01% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 44.14% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 22.9%, giving LSBRX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium 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, LSBRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 0.96%. So, LSBRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail ( LSBRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
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 LSBRX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is LSBRX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Well, Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail (LSBRX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. LSBRX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Loomis-Sayles is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of LSBRX. Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail debuted in May of 1991. Since then, LSBRX has accumulated assets of about $803.88 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.42%, and is in the bottom 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 -2.28%, which places it in the bottom 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. Compared to the category average of 12.38%, the standard deviation of LSBRX over the past three years is 7.31%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 8.04% compared to the category average of 13.33%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.41, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, LSBRX has a negative alpha of -0.44, 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, LSBRX has 22.01% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 44.14% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 22.9%, giving LSBRX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium 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, LSBRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 0.96%. So, LSBRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail ( LSBRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
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 LSBRX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.