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Is EAFAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Advantage A (EAFAX) is one possibility. EAFAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Eaton Vance is responsible for EAFAX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Since Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Advantage A made its debut in April of 2008, EAFAX has garnered more than $1.16 billion in assets. 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 carries a 5-year annualized total return of 2.73%, and is in the middle 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 6.85%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

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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. EAFAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 5.45% compared to the category average of 13.22%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.68% compared to the category average of 13.53%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of -0.02, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, EAFAX has a positive alpha of 1.69, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, EAFAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 0.97%. EAFAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Advantage A ( EAFAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Advantage A ( EAFAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond 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 EAFAX to its peers as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.

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