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Any investors hoping to find a Diversified Bonds fund could think about starting with Fidelity Total Bond (FTBFX). FTBFX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FTBFX 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
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FTBFX. Fidelity Total Bond debuted in October of 2002. Since then, FTBFX has accumulated assets of about $15.47 billion, according to 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. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.45%, 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. FTBFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.58% compared to the category average of 13.24%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.6% compared to the category average of 13.94%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.84, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FTBFX has a positive alpha of 1.34, 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, FTBFX has 67.9% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 23.47% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.