There are plenty of choices in the Diversified Bonds category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is PGIM Global Total Return A (GTRAX). GTRAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

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GTRAX is one of many Diversified Bonds funds to choose from. Diversified Bonds funds give investors exposure to a variety of fixed income types that span across different issuers, maturities, and credit levels. Usually, these funds will have a good amount of exposure to government debt, in addition to modest holdings in the corporate bond market.

PGIM is based in Providence, RI, and is the manager of GTRAX. Since PGIM Global Total Return A made its debut in July of 1986, GTRAX has garnered more than $163.67 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund’s current manager.

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -1.9%, 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 -4.24%, 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.

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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 13.23%, the standard deviation of GTRAX over the past three years is 10.6%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.18% compared to the category average of 14.02%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.85, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, GTRAX has a negative alpha of -0.78, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, GTRAX has 31.65% in high quality bonds rated at least ‘AA’ or higher, while 50.11% are of medium quality, with ratings of ‘A’ to ‘BBB’. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.

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