Investment Grade - Bonds: Misc fund seekers should consider taking a look at Lord Abbett Income Fund A (LAGVX Quick QuoteLAGVX - Free Report) . LAGVX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify LAGVX in the Investment Grade - Bonds: Misc, as area rife with many potential choices. Investment Grade - Bonds: Misc funds are not focused on one part of the curve and often hold a variety of investment grade credit levels. However, this means that funds in this category may not be directly comparable, and duration risk will depend on a given fund's profile. Also, these funds tend to be safer because of their focus on investment grade, but yields will be lower than could be found in the junk bond category.

History of Fund/Manager

Lord Abbett is responsible for LAGVX, and the company is based out of Jersey City, NJ. Since Lord Abbett Income Fund A made its debut in January of 1982, LAGVX has garnered more than $1.10 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of -2.56%, 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. The standard deviation of LAGVX over the past three years is 8.43% compared to the category average of 13.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.35% compared to the category average of 14.55%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

LAGVX carries a beta of 0.95, 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 1.8, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

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, LAGVX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.73% compared to the category average of 0.92%. LAGVX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,500, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Lord Abbett Income Fund A ( LAGVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Lord Abbett Income Fund A ( LAGVX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

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