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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond I (MWTIX - Free Report) . MWTIX 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
MWTIX finds itself in the Metropolitan family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond I debuted in April of 2000. Since then, MWTIX has accumulated assets of about $32.70 billion, 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 0.67%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -5%, 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. The standard deviation of MWTIX over the past three years is 7.61% compared to the category average of 12.95%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.63% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 1.09, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MWTIX has a positive alpha of 0.1, 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, MWTIX has 61.4% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 29.79% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, MWTIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.45% compared to the category average of 0.90%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, MWTIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3 million; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50,000.
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, Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond I ( MWTIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak 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. 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.
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Is MWTIX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond I (MWTIX - Free Report) . MWTIX 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
MWTIX finds itself in the Metropolitan family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond I debuted in April of 2000. Since then, MWTIX has accumulated assets of about $32.70 billion, 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 0.67%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -5%, 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. The standard deviation of MWTIX over the past three years is 7.61% compared to the category average of 12.95%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.63% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 1.09, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MWTIX has a positive alpha of 0.1, 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, MWTIX has 61.4% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 29.79% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, MWTIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.45% compared to the category average of 0.90%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, MWTIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3 million; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50,000.
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, Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond I ( MWTIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak 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. 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.