Is ACGYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you're looking for a Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate fund category, then a potential option is AB Income Advisor (ACGYX). ACGYX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that ACGYX is a Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate option, which is a segment loaded with many different investment options. By targeting bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years, Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds are a middle of the curve option. Fixed income instruments at this maturity level usually have medium duration risk, but their yields are respectable, especially in comparison to their short-maturity counterparts. Additionally, a focus on investment grade makes these funds safer, but yields tend to be lower than in the junk bond category.
History of Fund/Manager
AllianceBernstein is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of ACGYX. Since AB Income Advisor made its debut in April of 2016, ACGYX has garnered more than $2.09 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 0.26%, 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 4.53%, 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. Over the past three years, ACGYX's standard deviation comes in at 6.37%, compared to the category average of 9.54%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.24% compared to the category average of 11.07%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Bond Duration
Modified duration is a measure of a given bond's interest rate sensitivity, and is a metric that's a good way to judge how fixed income securities will respond in a shifting rate environment.
For investors who think interest rates will rise, this is an important factor to consider. ACGYX has a modified duration of 6.24, which suggests that the fund will decline 6.24% for every hundred-basis-point increase in interest rates.
ACGYX carries a beta of 0.99, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 0.48, 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, ACGYX has 91.3% in high quality bonds rated at least "AA" or higher, while 22.3% 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
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, ACGYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.54% compared to the category average of 0.86%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ACGYX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, AB Income Advisor ( ACGYX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into ACGYX too 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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