There are plenty of choices in the Government Mortgage - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is DoubleLine Total Return Bond I (DBLTX). DBLTX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds is an area filled with choices, such as DBLTX. A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a type of asset-backed security that packages mortgages together and then sells off the pooled securities. Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds focus on this market; this fund category presents a medium risk and yield profile, and concentrates on MBS with at least three years to maturity but less than 10.

History of Fund/Manager

DBLTX is a part of the Double Line family of funds, a company based out of Los Angeles, CA. The DoubleLine Total Return Bond I made its debut in April of 2010 and DBLTX has managed to accumulate roughly $24.25 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.48%, 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 2.06%, 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, DBLTX's standard deviation comes in at 6.9%, compared to the category average of 11.59%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 5.79% compared to the category average of 11.1%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 1.02, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, DBLTX has a positive alpha of 0.81, 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, DBLTX has 70% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.