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If investors are looking at the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate fund category, USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund (USIBX - Free Report) could be a potential option. USIBX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
USIBX is one of many Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds to pick from. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds focus on the middle part of the curve, generally with bonds that usually mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have medium duration risk, but they also compensate investors with a modest yield, at least when compared to their short maturity counterparts. Additionally, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
USIBX finds itself in the Victory family, based out of Columbus, OH. USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund debuted in August of 1999. Since then, USIBX has accumulated assets of about $1.47 billion, according to the most recently available information. 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 in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.38%, and is 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 -1.06%, 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. USIBX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.14% compared to the category average of 12.93%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.02% compared to the category average of 13.45%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.87, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, USIBX has a positive alpha of 1.61, 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, USIBX has 62.58% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 30.92% 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, USIBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 0.89%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, USIBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund ( USIBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund ( USIBX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate 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 USIBX 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 USIBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate fund category, USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund (USIBX - Free Report) could be a potential option. USIBX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
USIBX is one of many Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds to pick from. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds focus on the middle part of the curve, generally with bonds that usually mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have medium duration risk, but they also compensate investors with a modest yield, at least when compared to their short maturity counterparts. Additionally, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
USIBX finds itself in the Victory family, based out of Columbus, OH. USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund debuted in August of 1999. Since then, USIBX has accumulated assets of about $1.47 billion, according to the most recently available information. 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 in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.38%, and is 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 -1.06%, 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. USIBX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.14% compared to the category average of 12.93%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.02% compared to the category average of 13.45%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.87, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, USIBX has a positive alpha of 1.61, 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, USIBX has 62.58% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 30.92% 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, USIBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 0.89%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, USIBX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund ( USIBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, USAA Intermediate-Term Bond Fund ( USIBX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate 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 USIBX 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.