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There are plenty of choices in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is AB Income Advisor (ACGYX - Free Report) . ACGYX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify ACGYX in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, an area rife with potential choices. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds target the middle part of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. At these maturity levels, fixed income instruments have medium duration risk--but they compensate investors with a respectable yield compared to shorter maturity options. Finally, a focus on investment grade ensures that these funds are safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
AllianceBernstein is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of ACGYX. Since AB Income Advisor made its debut in April of 2016, ACGYX has garnered more than $2.09 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. ACGYX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.49%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.02%, 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. ACGYX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.04% compared to the category average of 10.5%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.22% compared to the category average of 11.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Bond Duration
Modified duration is a measure of a given bond's interest rate sensitivity, and is a metric that's a good way to judge how fixed income securities will respond in a shifting rate environment.
For investors who think interest rates will rise, this is an important factor to consider. ACGYX has a modified duration of 6.45, which suggests that the fund will decline 6.45% for every hundred-basis-point increase in interest rates.
ACGYX carries a beta of 0.99, 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 1.16, 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, ACGYX has 85.14% in high quality bonds rated at least "AA" or higher. The fund has an average quality of AAA, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, ACGYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.54% compared to the category average of 0.88%. So, ACGYX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, AB Income Advisor ( ACGYX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about ACGYX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is ACGYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is AB Income Advisor (ACGYX - Free Report) . ACGYX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify ACGYX in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, an area rife with potential choices. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds target the middle part of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. At these maturity levels, fixed income instruments have medium duration risk--but they compensate investors with a respectable yield compared to shorter maturity options. Finally, a focus on investment grade ensures that these funds are safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
AllianceBernstein is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of ACGYX. Since AB Income Advisor made its debut in April of 2016, ACGYX has garnered more than $2.09 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. ACGYX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.49%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.02%, 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. ACGYX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.04% compared to the category average of 10.5%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.22% compared to the category average of 11.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Bond Duration
Modified duration is a measure of a given bond's interest rate sensitivity, and is a metric that's a good way to judge how fixed income securities will respond in a shifting rate environment.
For investors who think interest rates will rise, this is an important factor to consider. ACGYX has a modified duration of 6.45, which suggests that the fund will decline 6.45% for every hundred-basis-point increase in interest rates.
ACGYX carries a beta of 0.99, 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 1.16, 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, ACGYX has 85.14% in high quality bonds rated at least "AA" or higher. The fund has an average quality of AAA, and focuses on high quality securities.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, ACGYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.54% compared to the category average of 0.88%. So, ACGYX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, AB Income Advisor ( ACGYX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about ACGYX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.