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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be BlackRock Floating Rate Income A (BFRAX - Free Report) . BFRAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
BlackRock is responsible for BFRAX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. Since BlackRock Floating Rate Income A made its debut in July of 2010, BFRAX has garnered more than $339.59 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
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 4.1%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.75%, which places it in the top 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 11.96%, the standard deviation of BFRAX over the past three years is 3.8%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.54% compared to the category average of 13.22%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of -0.13, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, BFRAX has a positive alpha of 2.66, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, BFRAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.98%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BFRAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should 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, BlackRock Floating Rate Income A ( BFRAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, BlackRock Floating Rate Income A ( BFRAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Bond, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is BFRAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be BlackRock Floating Rate Income A (BFRAX - Free Report) . BFRAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
BlackRock is responsible for BFRAX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. Since BlackRock Floating Rate Income A made its debut in July of 2010, BFRAX has garnered more than $339.59 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
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 4.1%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.75%, which places it in the top 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 11.96%, the standard deviation of BFRAX over the past three years is 3.8%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.54% compared to the category average of 13.22%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of -0.13, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, BFRAX has a positive alpha of 2.66, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, BFRAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.98%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BFRAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should 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, BlackRock Floating Rate Income A ( BFRAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, BlackRock Floating Rate Income A ( BFRAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Bond, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.