Is STYAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A (STYAX) is one possibility. STYAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
STYAX finds itself in the Allspring family, based out of San Francisco, CA. The Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A made its debut in July of 1998 and STYAX has managed to accumulate roughly $295.92 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.62%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.94%, 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. Over the past three years, STYAX's standard deviation comes in at 6.91%, compared to the category average of 12.95%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.47% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.9, 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 0.95, 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 62.37% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 26.66% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, 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, STYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.84% compared to the category average of 0.90%. From a cost perspective, STYAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Core Plus Bond A ( STYAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong 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 want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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