If investors are looking at the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate fund category, make sure to pass over Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail (LSBRX). LSBRX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify LSBRX in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, an area rife with potential choices. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds target the middle part of the curve, typically by investing in bonds that mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. At these maturity levels, fixed income instruments have medium duration risk--but they compensate investors with a respectable yield compared to shorter maturity options. Finally, a focus on investment grade ensures that these funds are safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.

History of Fund/Manager

LSBRX finds itself in the Loomis-Sayles family, based out of Boston, MA. Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail debuted in May of 1991. Since then, LSBRX has accumulated assets of about $740.59 million, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

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 0.34%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of -1.63%, 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. Over the past three years, LSBRX's standard deviation comes in at 7.87%, compared to the category average of 12.18%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.49% compared to the category average of 13.35%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.57, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, LSBRX has a positive alpha of 0.54, 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, LSBRX has 22.01% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 44.14% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 22.9%, giving LSBRX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium 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, LSBRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 0.94%. From a cost perspective, LSBRX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50

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, average downside risk, and lower fees, Loomis Sayles Bond Fund Retail ( LSBRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about LSBRX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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