Is LBNDX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

There are plenty of choices in the High Yield - Bonds category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is Lord Abbett Bond Debenture A (LBNDX). LBNDX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

LBNDX is part of the High Yield - Bonds section, which is a segment that boasts many possible options. Often referred to as " junk " bonds, High Yield - Bonds funds sit below investment grade, meaning they are at a high default risk compared to their investment grade peers. However, one advantage to junk bonds is that they generally pay out higher yields while posing similar interest rate risks to their investment grade counterparts.

History of Fund/Manager

Lord Abbett is responsible for LBNDX, and the company is based out of Jersey City, NJ. The Lord Abbett Bond Debenture A made its debut in April of 1971 and LBNDX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.52 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. 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 3.31%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 3.48%, 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. The standard deviation of LBNDX over the past three years is 6.65% compared to the category average of 13.05%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.34% compared to the category average of 12.73%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.28, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, LBNDX has a positive alpha of 3.5, 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, LBNDX has 31.48% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 46.45%, giving LBNDX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, LBNDX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 0.94%. LBNDX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Lord Abbett Bond Debenture A ( LBNDX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the High Yield - Bonds 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 LBNDX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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