Is NMTRX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Bond fund category, then a possible option is Nuveen Municipals Total Return Managed Accounts Portfolio (NMTRX). NMTRX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
Nuveen is based in Chicago, IL, and is the manager of NMTRX. The Nuveen Municipals Total Return Managed Accounts Portfolio made its debut in January of 2008 and NMTRX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.48 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Martin J. Doyle who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2008.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.71%, and it sits in the bottom 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 -1.95%, 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, NMTRX's standard deviation comes in at 7.29%, compared to the category average of 7.35%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 6.86% compared to the category average of 7.21%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.94, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, NMTRX has a negative alpha of -0.31, 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, NMTRX has 50.6% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 38.9% 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
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, NMTRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.04% compared to the category average of 0.67%. So, NMTRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
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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