There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is Lord Abbett Bond Debenture A (LBNDX). LBNDX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Lord Abbett is based in Jersey City, NJ, and is the manager of LBNDX. Since Lord Abbett Bond Debenture A made its debut in April of 1971, LBNDX has garnered more than $4.64 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is 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 2.23%, and is in the middle 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 -1.67%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.78%, the standard deviation of LBNDX over the past three years is 6.72%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.85% compared to the category average of 14.55%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.27, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, LBNDX has a positive alpha of 1.56, 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, LBNDX has 35.22% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 44.12%, giving LBNDX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium 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, LBNDX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 0.96%. From a cost perspective, LBNDX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while 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, Lord Abbett Bond Debenture A ( LBNDX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Lord Abbett Bond Debenture A ( LBNDX ) looks like a somewhat average 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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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
