Yahoo Finance Is PTTAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Bond funds, you might want to consider passing on by PIMCO Total Return A (PTTAX) as a possibility. PTTAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PIMCO Funds is based in Newport Beach, CA, and is the manager of PTTAX. The PIMCO Total Return A made its debut in May of 1987 and PTTAX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.53 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
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 -0.45%, 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 -5.83%, 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 PTTAX over the past three years is 6.39% compared to the category average of 13.16%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 5.79% compared to the category average of 13.98%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 1, meaning that it is volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PTTAX has a negative alpha of -0.37, 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, PTTAX has 73% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 20.2% 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
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, PTTAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 0.75%. So, PTTAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, PIMCO Total Return A ( PTTAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, PIMCO Total Return A ( PTTAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about PTTAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Get Your Free (PTTAX): Fund Analysis Report
