If you have been looking for Government Mortgage - Intermediate fund category, a potential starting could be Allspring Core Plus Bond A (STYAX Quick QuoteSTYAX - Free Report) . STYAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify STYAX in the Government Mortgage - Intermediate category, an area full of potential choices. Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds focus on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, which packages mortgages together and then sells off the pooled securities as a MBS. Honing in on MBS' that have at least three years to maturity but less than 10, this fund category presents a medium risk and yield profile.

History of Fund/Manager

Allspring is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of STYAX. Allspring Core Plus Bond A made its debut in July of 1998, and since then, STYAX has accumulated about $322.16 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 0.31%, 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 4.32%, which places it in the bottom 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 STYAX over the past three years is 5.95% compared to the category average of 9.81%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 6.5% compared to the category average of 11.39%. 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.

If you believe interest rates will rise, this is an important factor to look at. STYAX has a modified duration of 6.34, which suggests that the fund will decline 6.34% for every hundred-basis-point increase in interest rates.

Income

Since income is, of course, a big reason for purchasing a fixed income security, it is always important to consider the fund's average coupon. A fund's average coupon is simply its average payout in a given year. For example, this fund's average coupon of 4.85% means that a $10,000 investment should result in a yearly payout of $485.

While a higher coupon is good for when you want a strong level of current income, it could present a reinvestment risk if rates are lower in the future when compared to the initial purchase date of the bond. Income is only one part of the bond picture, investors also need to consider risk relative to broad benchmarks.

This fund has a beta of 0.97, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, STYAX has a positive alpha of 0.12, 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, STYAX has 51.79% in high quality bonds rated at least "AA" or higher, while 36.56% are of medium quality, with ratings of "A" to "BBB". The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high 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, STYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 0.88%. STYAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Allspring Core Plus Bond A ( STYAX ) 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.

Don't stop here for your research on Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare STYAX to its peers as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.