Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is SAMBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Bond funds, consider Virtus Seix Floating Rate High Income I (SAMBX - Free Report) as a possibility. SAMBX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

SAMBX finds itself in the Virtus Funds family, based out of Hartford, CT. Virtus Seix Floating Rate High Income I debuted in March of 2006. Since then, SAMBX has accumulated assets of about $2.14 billion, according to 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. SAMBX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.19% and it sits 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 1.21%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of SAMBX over the past three years is 8.37% compared to the category average of 13.59%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.74% compared to the category average of 11.97%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

SAMBX carries a beta of -0.17, 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 1.3, 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, SAMBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.64% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, SAMBX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Virtus Seix Floating Rate High Income I ( SAMBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Virtus Seix Floating Rate High Income I ( SAMBX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare SAMBX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Virtus Seix Float Rate High Inc I (SAMBX) - free report >>

Published in