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Is AIANX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? American Century Inflation Adjustable Bond Institutional (AIANX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. AIANX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of AIANX. American Century Inflation Adjustable Bond Institutional made its debut in January of 2003, and since then, AIANX has accumulated about $278.42 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.69%, and is 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 7.01%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

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, AIANX's standard deviation comes in at 5.21%, compared to the category average of 14%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 4.5% compared to the category average of 12.29%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

AIANX carries a beta of 0.73, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 3.51, 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, AIANX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.26% compared to the category average of 0.82%. AIANX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Century Inflation Adjustable Bond Institutional ( AIANX ) 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.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Bond, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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