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Is FPNIX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Bond funds, consider FPA New Income Fund (FPNIX - Free Report) as a possibility. FPNIX has 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

FPA is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of FPNIX. Since FPA New Income Fund made its debut in March of 1969, FPNIX has garnered more than $7.86 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Abhijeet Patwardhan, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2015.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FPNIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 1.96% and is in the top 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 1.08%, 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. Compared to the category average of 2.57%, the standard deviation of FPNIX over the past three years is 1.93%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 2.05% compared to the category average of 3.09%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.27, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FPNIX has a positive alpha of 0.37, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FPNIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.45% compared to the category average of 0.59%. So, FPNIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,500 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, FPA New Income Fund ( FPNIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FPNIX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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