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Core Bond Funds

What do you use as a core bond fund? I'm looking for options that help serve as ballast against equity downturns, not something that has big exposure to high yield. Many multi-sector and core plus bond funds ramp up their exposure to high yield (10-20%) as a means of boosting returns and yield. Other funds seems to use the mortgage sector as a way of sidestepping interest rate hikes, but what happens when those sectors go south? I guess I'm looking for something that successfully spreads its bets between corporates, treasuries and MBS without dipping heavily into high yield.
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  • @willmatt72: PONCX
    Regards,
    Ted
  • DODIX.
    30 corporates
    25 agency mbs pass through
    16 treasuries
    5 agency mbs arm
    5 asset-backed.
    TTM 2.78%
  • @Crash do you invest directly with Dodge & Cox? Just asking because I haven't been able to find DODIX as ntf on any brokerage platforms.
  • @carew388... Actually, I am babysitting a friend's portfolio. It's not my money. But yes, that's a direct retail investment, straight from the mutual fund itself.
  • PONAX and GIBLX, although most of my bond exposure is in individual bonds, I use these two. I added FISCX recently for a little kick, but I would not consider that one in the same camp as core bond.
  • @Crash ok-thanks for info.
  • edited May 2018

    What do you use as a core bond fund? I'm looking for options that help serve as ballast against equity downturns, not something that has big exposure to high yield. Many multi-sector and core plus bond funds ramp up their exposure to high yield (10-20%) as a means of boosting returns and yield. Other funds seems to use the mortgage sector as a way of sidestepping interest rate hikes, but what happens when those sectors go south? I guess I'm looking for something that successfully spreads its bets between corporates, treasuries and MBS without dipping heavily into high yield.

    Everything I own in fixed income is off this year. Not big time - but down. Makes me wonder if stocks are setting up for a big tumble?
    -

    @Willmatt72 nailed the questions re bonds pretty well. Who knows? Here the questions come a lot easier than the answers. Downside protection comes at a price. The “downier” the degree of protection, the more you give up in yield.

    I think Price’s RPSIX is grossly underrated. M* and the others rate it generally “fair-middling”.
    But it’s a nice diversified one-stop income fund (not strictly a bond fund). You won’t get rich with it and you won’t go broke either. Pulls from a stable of nearly a dozen TRP funds and is run by forks who are generally ahead of the allocation game - sometimes so far out in front they look stupid. The generally 10-15% dose of an income producing equity fund (PRFDX) will boost returns longer term.

    The above would constitute my largest fixed income holding at present (excluding cash). And DODLX would be my second largest hold.

  • @Hank - I've often wondered why TRP does not offer a straight up Intermediate core bond holding. I guess PRCIX is the closest fund? It looks pretty mediocre from what I see. Maybe I'm missing something. Vanguard has the new-ish VCORX but it probably opened at the wrong time due to the headwinds in bonds over the past year.
  • edited May 2018
    http://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/mainx/quote.html
    MAINX. Not a domestic core bond fund at all. I mention this one in response to @hank, who mentioned DODLX.
  • edited May 2018
    @Wllmatt72,

    I’d agree with you about their New Income Fund (PRCIX). Never could figure out what they were trying to do with it and never owned it.

    I’d also admit that fixed income generally hasn’t been Price’s strong suit. I think they made a lot of progress under Mary Miller who served as their head of fixed income from 2004 until 2009 when Obama tapped her to work for Treasury. Backslid perhaps since than - though their more aggressive offerings like EM and high yield have prospered. In digging up what I could tonight I stumbled across a blurb from Price that their current head of fixed income will retire at year’s end. I thought it was worth posting as a separate thread.

    RPSIX, which I mentioned in the earlier post, isn’t a bond fund per se. Price classifies it as an asset allocation fund. While bonds are not their forte, Price has proven itself through its wise allocation decisions over the years. Here’s the funds in which RPSIX may invest. Generally, it has a stake in most, but not all of these, at any given time. Sorry I couldn’t find a way to copy the exact percentages.

    Corporate Income Fund
    Emerging Markets Bond Fund
    Emerging Markets Local Currency Bond Fund
    Equity Income Fund
    Floating Rate Fund
    GNMA Fund
    High Yield Fund
    Inflation Protected Bond Fund
    International Bond Fund
    Limited Duration Inflation Focused Bond Fund
    New Income Fund
    Short-Term Bond Fund
    U.S. Treasury Intermediate Fund
    U.S. Treasury Long-Term Fund
    U.S. Treasury Money Fund
  • I was doing a little research on *M and found this fund in one of my searches - TICPX. Interesting. Doesn't seem to be offered other than institutional?
  • OSTIX. (Thanks to @BobC for recommending it.)
  • FAGIX if you can hold on (may defeat the purpose of having a core bond fund in the first place)
  • expatsp said:

    OSTIX. (Thanks to @BobC for recommending it.)

    Assuming we looking for diversification, OSTRX would seem to be a better option. Regardless, I don't do bond funds. I will wait forever until I die for OSTVX to come down. I only get my exposure to bonds through balanced / allocation funds. As I get older such funds occupy larger portion of my portfolio.
  • edited May 2018
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • edited May 2018
    As mentioned above, a really ugly year for bond funds. The next domino to drop may be junk corporates. About all that has worked are non agency rmbs and bank loan bond funds. The latter worry me if junk corporates get hit. Going into today I am 75% IOFIX and 25% EIFAX.
  • expatsp said:

    OSTIX. (Thanks to @BobC for recommending it.)

    Assuming we looking for diversification, OSTRX would seem to be a better option. Regardless, I don't do bond funds. I will wait forever until I die for OSTVX to come down. I only get my exposure to bonds through balanced / allocation funds. As I get older such funds occupy larger portion of my portfolio.
    @VF - Which balanced/allocation funds do you use? Personally, I own VWENX and VTMFX.
  • I was doing a little research on *M and found this fund in one of my searches - TICPX. Interesting. Doesn't seem to be offered other than institutional?

    Pretty meager dividends.
  • I'm seeing a little more than 3% on *M.
  • Ya, I was looking at less than .03 cents in actual hard figures, per share.
  • I'm looking at core bond funds that serve as ballast, as per the OP. Dividends are less important to me.

  • @VF - Which balanced/allocation funds do you use? Personally, I own VWENX and VTMFX.

    Well, I own "balanced" funds, meaning all of them will not confirm to M* definition.
    GRSPX, AUXFX, OAKBX, GLRBX, LCORX, VWELX, FPACX, ICMBX, APPLX

    Funds I'm building positions in GBLEX, IFAFX, BTBFX, VGWLX, CETAX, WHGIX, FEBAX

    Funds I'm looking to buy TILDX
  • @will why don't you just index then? Cheap and efficient, index weighting of treasuries, corporates, agency mbs.. ticker AGG, index Barclays US Aggregate Bond. Current duration is around 6.

    This way you'll always have performance matching the index performance and everything good and bad that comes with this.

    This could complement ur PIMIX and other active bond positions that are more credit sensitive.
  • We are fans of Baird for bond fund at our house
  • edited May 2018
    I am a fan of Dan Fuss and crew.

    My largest position in a core bond fund is NEFZX. Over the past ten years it has served me well.

    Another core bond fund that I'm happy with is LBNDX.

    And, yet another one is TSIAX.

    These three funds combined make up about 50% of my income sleeve. The other three funds held within this sleeve are BAICX, CTFAX & GIFAX.

    I've been thinking of adding to NEFZX & CTFAX.
  • @Old_Skeet Not sure when you purchased CTFAX. My 2 cents, this is classic example of when you buy being more important than what you buy. With a DD of 42% I would rather just invest in the S&P 500
  • edited May 2018
    @VintageFreak,

    I like CTFAX and I've owned it for a good number of years. Most times it's bond allocation is North of 80% and during stock market pullbacks it loads equities. Currently, it is about 90% fixed & 10% equity. However, it only makes distribution two times per year (June and December). It will be after the June distribution before I cut any new money into it. With sizeable distributions comes a high draw down percent (DD).
  • edited May 2018
    Just for the heck of it........

    A chart of a few of the funds mentioned recently with SPY for reference.
    Mid Dec. 2017 to date.

    http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?NEFZX,LBNDX,TSIAX,CTFAX,SPY&p=6&O=011000
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