Any investors hoping to find a Government Bond - Short fund could think about starting with Lord Abbett Short Duration Income F (LDLFX). LDLFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

LDLFX is one of many Government Bond - Short funds to choose from. Often seen as risk-free assets and described as extremely low-risk from a default perspective, Government Bond - Short funds hold securities issued by the federal government of the United States. Focusing on the short end of the curve, this category can result in n lower yields, but less sensitivity to interest rate fluctuations.

History of Fund/Manager

LDLFX finds itself in the Lord Abbett family, based out of Jersey City, NJ. Lord Abbett Short Duration Income F debuted in September of 2007. Since then, LDLFX has accumulated assets of about $1.23 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.54%, and it sits in the middle 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 0.4%, 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. LDLFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 2.41% compared to the category average of 13.08%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 3.84% compared to the category average of 14.01%. 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, LDLFX has a positive alpha of 0.22, 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, LDLFX has 37.62% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 52.88% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, 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, LDLFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 0.92%. LDLFX 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 $0; 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 Short Duration Income F ( LDLFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Lord Abbett Short Duration Income F ( LDLFX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Government Bond - Short funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare LDLFX to its peers as well 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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