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If investors are looking at the Diversified Bonds fund category, make sure to pass over Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan (MWTSX - Free Report) . MWTSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify MWTSX in the Diversified Bonds category, an area that is rife with potential choices. Diversified Bonds funds offer exposure to a wide variety of fixed income types, stretching across various issuers, credit levels, and maturities. Generally speaking, bond funds here will have sizable exposure to government debt, as well as modest holdings in the corporate bond market too.
History of Fund/Manager
Metropolitan is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of MWTSX. The Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan made its debut in August of 2011 and MWTSX has managed to accumulate roughly $14.27 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MWTSX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.17% and is in the bottom 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 -3.73%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, MWTSX's standard deviation comes in at 8.26%, compared to the category average of 12.91%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.96% compared to the category average of 13.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
MWTSX carries a beta of 1.11, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.28, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, MWTSX has 71.1% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 20.47% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, MWTSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.37% compared to the category average of 0.89%. From a cost perspective, MWTSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $25 million and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50,000
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan ( MWTSX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on MWTSXin the Diversified Bonds 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is MWTSX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Diversified Bonds fund category, make sure to pass over Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan (MWTSX - Free Report) . MWTSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify MWTSX in the Diversified Bonds category, an area that is rife with potential choices. Diversified Bonds funds offer exposure to a wide variety of fixed income types, stretching across various issuers, credit levels, and maturities. Generally speaking, bond funds here will have sizable exposure to government debt, as well as modest holdings in the corporate bond market too.
History of Fund/Manager
Metropolitan is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of MWTSX. The Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan made its debut in August of 2011 and MWTSX has managed to accumulate roughly $14.27 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MWTSX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.17% and is in the bottom 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 -3.73%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, MWTSX's standard deviation comes in at 8.26%, compared to the category average of 12.91%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.96% compared to the category average of 13.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
MWTSX carries a beta of 1.11, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.28, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, MWTSX has 71.1% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 20.47% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, MWTSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.37% compared to the category average of 0.89%. From a cost perspective, MWTSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $25 million and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50,000
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan ( MWTSX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on MWTSXin the Diversified Bonds 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.