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Is SAMBX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund could think about starting with Virtus Seix Floating Rate High Income I (SAMBX - Free Report) . SAMBX 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

Virtus Funds is based in Hartford, CT, and is the manager of SAMBX. Virtus Seix Floating Rate High Income I debuted in March of 2006. Since then, SAMBX has accumulated assets of about $1.78 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. SAMBX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.61% 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 2.39%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.98%, the standard deviation of SAMBX over the past three years is 8.58%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.92% compared to the category average of 12.96%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of -0.29, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, SAMBX has a positive alpha of 1.58, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, SAMBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.97%. SAMBX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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.

This could just be the start of your research on SAMBXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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