Yahoo Finance Is PTIAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should consider taking a look at Performance Trust Total Return Bond (PTIAX). PTIAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Performance is responsible for PTIAX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. The Performance Trust Total Return Bond made its debut in August of 2010 and PTIAX has managed to accumulate roughly $6.11 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by G. Plaiss who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2010.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.59%, 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 -1.58%, 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. The standard deviation of PTIAX over the past three years is 6.23% compared to the category average of 11.86%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 6.07% compared to the category average of 12.23%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.82, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PTIAX has a positive alpha of 0.4, 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, PTIAX has 55.97% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 26.08% 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, PTIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.76% compared to the category average of 0.86%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PTIAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $500.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Performance Trust Total Return Bond ( PTIAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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