There are plenty of choices in the Government Bond - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Performance Trust Total Return Bond (PTIAX). PTIAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify PTIAX in the Government Bond - Intermediate category, an area rife with potential choices. Government Bond - Intermediate funds hold securities issued by the federal government of the United States, and are often seen as risk-free assets; they are also described as extremely low-risk from a default perspective. Best suited for investors looking to balance their existing core bond portfolio, these funds carry the risk and return potential that is between short and long government bonds.

History of Fund/Manager

PTIAX is a part of the Performance family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. Performance Trust Total Return Bond made its debut in August of 2010, and since then, PTIAX has accumulated about $7.30 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.78%, and is in the top 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 -1.56%, 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. PTIAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 6.34% compared to the category average of 11.98%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.15% compared to the category average of 12.36%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.82, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PTIAX has a positive alpha of 0.71, 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, PTIAX has 59.62% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 27.74% 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, PTIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 0.85%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PTIAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $500.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Performance Trust Total Return Bond ( PTIAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Performance Trust Total Return Bond ( PTIAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on PTIAXin the Government Bond - Intermediate 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.

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