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On the lookout for a Diversified Bonds fund? Starting with Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan (MWTSX) should not be a possibility at this time. 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
MWTSX finds itself in the Metropolitan family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Since Metropolitan West Total Retail Bond Plan made its debut in August of 2011, MWTSX has garnered more than $11.41 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is 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 0.11% and it sits in the bottom 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 -2.36%, 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. MWTSX's standard deviation over the past three years is 8.65% compared to the category average of 12.98%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.13% compared to the category average of 13.58%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
MWTSX carries a beta of 1.12, 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 0.44, 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.