There are plenty of choices in the Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is PIMCO Total Return Institutional (PTTRX). PTTRX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

PTTRX is one of many Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds to pick from. Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate funds focus on the middle part of the curve, generally with bonds that usually mature in more than three years but less than 15 years. Fixed income instruments with this maturity level usually have medium duration risk, but they also compensate investors with a modest yield, at least when compared to their short maturity counterparts. Additionally, the focus on investment grade will make funds here safer, but yields will be lower than in the junk bond category.

History of Fund/Manager

PIMCO Funds is based in Newport Beach, CA, and is the manager of PTTRX. PIMCO Total Return Institutional debuted in May of 1987. Since then, PTTRX has accumulated assets of about $40.65 billion, according to 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. PTTRX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.16% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.38%, 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. PTTRX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.44% compared to the category average of 13.23%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.45% compared to the category average of 13.99%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 1, meaning that it is volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PTTRX has a positive alpha of 0.38, 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, PTTRX has 74.1% 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, PTTRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, PTTRX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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 similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, PIMCO Total Return Institutional ( PTTRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Investment Grade Bond - Intermediate 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 PTTRX to its peers as well 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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