Is LSBRX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail (LSBRX). LSBRX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify LSBRX in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, an area rife with potential choices. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds target the middle part of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. At these maturity levels, fixed income instruments have medium duration risk--but they compensate investors with a respectable yield compared to shorter maturity options. Finally, a focus on investment grade ensures that these funds are safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
Loomis-Sayles is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of LSBRX. Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail made its debut in May of 1991, and since then, LSBRX has accumulated about $670.56 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Matthew Eagan who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2007.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.64%, 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 4%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
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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 LSBRX over the past three years is 7.68% compared to the category average of 11.8%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 7.16% compared to the category average of 11.47%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.66, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, LSBRX has a positive alpha of 4.42, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.