Having trouble finding a Government Mortgage - Intermediate fund? Well, DoubleLine Total Return Bond I (DBLTX) would not be a good potential starting point right now. DBLTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify DBLTX in the Government Mortgage - Intermediate category, an area full of potential choices. Government Mortgage - Intermediate funds focus on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, which packages mortgages together and then sells off the pooled securities as a MBS. Honing in on MBS'that have at least three years to maturity but less than 10, this fund category presents a medium risk and yield profile.

History of Fund/Manager

Double Line is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of DBLTX. The DoubleLine Total Return Bond I made its debut in April of 2010 and DBLTX has managed to accumulate roughly $24.41 billion in assets, as of 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.6%, 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 -3.28%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 11.89%, the standard deviation of DBLTX over the past three years is 6.55%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 5.78% compared to the category average of 12.35%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

DBLTX carries a beta of 0.97, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -0.73, 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, DBLTX has 68.79% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high 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, DBLTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.50% compared to the category average of 0.85%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DBLTX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $100,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, DoubleLine Total Return Bond I ( DBLTX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Government Mortgage - 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 DBLTX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.

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