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Is PDVYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Diversified Bonds fund could think about starting with Putnam Diversified Income Y (PDVYX - Free Report) . PDVYX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

PDVYX is one of many Diversified Bonds funds to choose from.Diversified Bonds funds give investors exposure to a variety of fixed income types that span across different issuers, maturities, and credit levels. Usually, these funds will have a good amount of exposure to government debt, in addition to modest holdings in the corporate bond market.

History of Fund/Manager

Putnam Funds is based in Canton, MA, and is the manager of PDVYX. Putnam Diversified Income Y made its debut in October of 1998, and since then, PDVYX has accumulated about $431.11 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.3%, and it sits 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 6.55%, 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. Over the past three years, PDVYX's standard deviation comes in at 4.52%, compared to the category average of 10.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 4.75% compared to the category average of 11.69%. 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, so when judging how fixed income securities will respond in a shifting rate environment, it is an excellent figure to look at.

For those that believe interest rates will rise, this is an important factor to consider. PDVYX has a modified duration of 3.89, which suggests that the fund will decline 3.89% for every hundred-basis-point increase in interest rates.

PDVYX carries a beta of 0.58, 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 1.07, 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, PDVYX's junk bond component-bonds rated "BB" or below-is at 28.92%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

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, PDVYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 1.01%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PDVYX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Putnam Diversified Income Y ( PDVYX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Putnam Diversified Income Y ( PDVYX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on PDVYX in the Diversified Bonds category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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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