Having trouble finding an International Bond - Developed fund? Well, Templeton Global Bond A (TPINX) would not be a good potential starting point right now. TPINX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of International Bond - Developed funds is an area filled with different choices, like TPINX. International Bond - Developed funds focus on fixed income securities from developed nations besides the United States. This usually results in countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, France, and Australia dominating the list of top holdings. Funds here offer geographic diversification, but they can also introduce currency risk into the picture as well.

History of Fund/Manager

Franklin is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of TPINX. Since Templeton Global Bond A made its debut in September of 1986, TPINX has garnered more than $1.79 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Michael Hasenstab who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2001.

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 -4.43%, and it sits in the bottom 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 -4.99%, 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. The standard deviation of TPINX over the past three years is 10.89% compared to the category average of 13.11%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.03% compared to the category average of 13.78%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.84, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, TPINX has a negative alpha of -4.06, 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, TPINX has 40.3% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 39.7% 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, TPINX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.95% compared to the category average of 0.93%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, TPINX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that 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, Templeton Global Bond A ( TPINX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on International Bond - Developed 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 TPINX to its peers as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.

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