There are plenty of choices in the Government Mortgage - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is Allspring Coreblder Shares Series M (WFCMX Quick QuoteWFCMX - Free Report) . WFCMX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

WFCMX is one of many Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds to choose from. Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds focus on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market. This market takes mortgages, packages them together, and sells off the pooled securities to investors. This particular category focuses on MBS that usually have at least three years to maturity, but less than 10, giving a medium risk and yield profile to funds here.

History of Fund/Manager

WFCMX finds itself in the Allspring family, based out of San Francisco, CA. Allspring Coreblder Shares Series M debuted in February of 2009. Since then, WFCMX has accumulated assets of about $748.37 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.33%, 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 3.06%, which places it in the middle 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 8.25%, the standard deviation of WFCMX over the past three years is 6.54%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 5.89% compared to the category average of 8.24%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 0.64, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, WFCMX has a positive alpha of 2.43, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, WFCMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.03% compared to the category average of 0.43%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, WFCMX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that 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, Allspring Coreblder Shares Series M ( WFCMX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Government Mortgage - Intermediate 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.