September 5, 2013

Lowest Cost Best Bond Mutual Funds for 2014 Investing

Lowest cost best bond mutual funds for 2014, top ranked fixed income mutual fund. The top bond mutual funds are State Farm Municipal Bond fund, Baird Core Plus Bond fund, Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond, etc.

Lowest Cost Best Bond Mutual Funds for 2014 Best Cheap Mutual Funds

Bond mutual funds can be divided into 2 main classes: taxable bond mutual funds, and municipal bond mutual funds. Taxable bond fund invests mainly in U.S. or foreign debts which provide interest for investors. The income from taxable bond fund is taxable by Federal income tax rate. The municipal bond fund uses its assets to purchase municipal debts issued by various U.S. states, municipalities, cities or localities. It provides tax free high income for investors.

These lowest cost five star bond mutual funds are sorted based on its expense ratio and top star rating. You can invest the mutual funds in your brokerage account and retirement account (Roth IRA, traditional IRA or 401k). These best mutual funds may provide high yield income and high capital appreciation for investors.

Top lowest cost bond mutual funds for 2014 are:
  1. Nuveen Municipal Total Return Managed Accounts (NMTRX)
  2. Wells Fargo Advantage Core Builder Series M (WFCMX)
  3. State Farm Municipal Bond (SFBDX)
  4. Vanguard Ohio Long-Term Tax-Exempt (VOHIX)
  5. Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt (VWAHX)
  6. Baird Core Plus Bond Institutional (BCOIX)
  7. Federated Intermediate Government/Corporate Institutional (FGCIX)
  8. American Independence US Inflation-Indexed I (FFIHX)
  9. Scout Core Bond I (SCCIX)
  10. Scout Core Plus Bond Institutional (SCPZX)
  11. Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond I (MWIIX)
  12. TCW Core Fixed-Income I (TGCFX)
  13. TCW Total Return Bond I (TGLMX)
  14. Delaware Pooled Core Plus Fixed Income (DCPFX)
  15. Fidelity GNMA Fund (FGMNX)
  16. PIMCO Short-Term Institutional (PTSHX)
  17. PIMCO Total Return Institutional (PTTRX)
  18. Western Asset Core Plus Bond I (WACPX)
  19. JPMorgan Government Bond Select (HLGAX)
  20. PIMCO Long-Term US Government Institutional (PGOVX)
  21. DoubleLine Total Return Bond I (DBLTX)
  22. Federated Institutional High Yield Bond Institutional (FIHBX)
  23. Wells Fargo Advantage Adjusted Rate Government I (EKIZX)
  24. American Century CA High-Yield Muni Investor (BCHYX)
  25. DoubleLine Core Fixed Income I (DBLFX)
  26. Frost Total Return Bond Institutional (FIJEX)
  27. Nuveen Intermediate Duration Muni Bond I (NUVBX)
  28. Payden GNMA (PYGNX)
  29. PIMCO Foreign Bond (USD-Hedged) I (PFORX)
  30. PIMCO GNMA Institutional (PDMIX)
Updated on August 5, 2013

Nuveen Municipal Total Return Managed Accounts Fund (NMTRX)

This Nuveen Municipal Total Return Managed Accounts fund seeks attractive total return and high current income exempt from regular federal income taxes. This muni bond mutual fund is currently managed by Martin J. Doyle. It has $303.1 million of total net assets. It has a high yield of 4.55%.

This lowest cost best bond mutual fund is also ranked with 5-stars rating by Morningstar. The 5-year average return is 6.62%. This best fund has returned 5.91% over the past 3-year. It has YTD return of -5.90% as of August 1, 2013. You can buy this fund through online investing.

Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt Fund (VWAHX)

Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt FundThis low-cost municipal bond fund objective is to provide a high level of federally tax-exempt income. It typically appeals to investors in higher tax brackets. Vanguard High-Yield Tax-Exempt Fund uses its assets to purchase low quality municipal bonds. It also provides high yield tax free income for investors.

More: Top Vanguard Mutual Funds 2013

This top muni bond fund has 0.20% annual expense ratio which is 79% lower than the average ratio of funds with similar holdings. It has large assets of $7.4 billion. The dividend yield is 3.95%. It is managed by Mathew M. Kiselak.

The benchmark is Barclays Municipal Bond Index. It has average maturity of 8.1 years and average duration of 6.8 years. This fixed income fund has 27 years of positive return. It has its best 1 year total return in 2009 with 20.13%. Based on the load adjusted returns, it has returned 5.28% over the past 3-year and 4.54% over the past 10-year. It also has 5-stars and Silver rating from Morningstar.

Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond Fund (MWIIX)

The Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond Fund invests most of the net assets in fixed-income securities rated investment grade or unrated securities with similar quality. This bond fund was first introduced to public in June 2002. The total net assets are $346.1 million. It has a dividend yield of 3.19%. The annual expense ratio is 0.44%. The management teams are Tad Rivelle, Laird Landmann and Stephen M. Kane.

Morningstar analysts rank this top lowest cost bond fund for 2014 with 5-stars rating. The best 1-year total return was achieved in 2009 with 14.51%. So far, this mutual fund has only one year of negative return, it was in 2009 with -2.13%. Based on the load adjusted returns, the fund has returned 7.49% over the past 5-year and 5.71% over the past decade. Barclays Capital International Government/ Credit Index is the fund’s benchmark.

MoreBest Municipal Bond ETF Funds 2014

The top 3 sectors are Mortgage Backed (37.6%), Credit/ Corp (24.0%) and US Government (13.2%). The other class of this fund is M Class (MWIMX).

Top Funds Profile


NoFund NameTickerStar RatingExpenseNet Assets (Mil) Yield
1Nuveen Municipal Total Return Mgd AcctsNMTRX50.00%$304.20 4.44%
2Wells Fargo Advantage Core Builder Ser MWFCMX50.00%$77.40 3.56%
3State Farm Municipal BondSFBDX50.15%$655.60 3.55%
4Vanguard OH Long-Term Tax-ExemptVOHIX50.16%$966.10 3.74%
5Vanguard High-Yield Tax-ExemptVWAHX50.20%$7,400.00 3.87%
6Baird Core Plus Bond InstBCOIX50.30%$2,800.00 3.26%
7Federated Interm Govt/Corp InstlFGCIX50.30%$145.40 1.73%
8American Indep US Infl-Idx IFFIHX50.32%$345.70 0.39%
9Scout Core Bond ISCCIX50.40%$262.30 1.31%
10Scout Core Plus Bond InstlSCPZX50.40%$504.50 1.66%
11Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond IMWIIX50.44%$346.30 3.29%
12TCW Core Fixed-Income ITGCFX50.44%$1,300.00 2.00%
13TCW Total Return Bond ITGLMX50.44%$8,300.00 5.28%
14Delaware Pooled Core Plus Fixed IncomeDCPFX50.45%$52.20 3.86%
15Fidelity GNMA FundFGMNX50.45%$8,700.00 1.98%

Top Fund Performance

NoFund NameTickerYTD return1-Year Return3-Year Return5-Year Return10-Year Return
1Nuveen Municipal Total Return Mgd AcctsNMTRX-6.10%-3.93%4.71%6.24%N/A
2Wells Fargo Advantage Core Builder Ser MWFCMX-2.54%1.28%7.29%9.02%N/A
3State Farm Municipal BondSFBDX-2.74%-1.44%3.29%4.75%4.33%
4Vanguard OH Long-Term Tax-ExemptVOHIX-4.72%-2.92%3.30%4.61%4.30%
5Vanguard High-Yield Tax-ExemptVWAHX-4.11%-2.01%4.41%5.27%4.66%
6Baird Core Plus Bond InstBCOIX-2.36%-0.06%4.96%7.31%6.19%
7Federated Interm Govt/Corp InstlFGCIX-1.23%0.20%2.93%5.00%N/A
8American Indep US Infl-Idx IFFIHX-6.98%-5.87%4.85%4.99%5.97%
9Scout Core Bond ISCCIX-1.81%-0.11%4.24%7.57%6.09%
10Scout Core Plus Bond InstlSCPZX-1.63%108.00%5.86%9.71%7.34%
11Metropolitan West Intermediate Bond IMWIIX-0.11%3.15%5.55%7.78%5.90%
12TCW Core Fixed-Income ITGCFX-2.20%-0.02%4.51%8.01%6.21%
13TCW Total Return Bond ITGLMX-0.64%4.66%6.57%9.23%6.92%
14Delaware Pooled Core Plus Fixed IncomeDCPFX-2.16%-1.09%4.50%7.95%6.26%
15Fidelity GNMA FundFGMNX-2.91%-2.65%2.67%5.28%4.83%
16PIMCO Short-Term InstlPTSHX0.12%1.16%1.51%2.43%2.79%
17PIMCO Total Return InstlPTTRX-2.65%0.05%4.28%7.38%6.31%
18Western Asset Core Plus Bond IWACPX-2.03%-0.12%4.96%8.72%6.24%
19JPMorgan Government Bond SelectHLGAX-2.89%-2.70%3.44%5.50%5.07%
20PIMCO Long-Term US Government InstlPGOVX-9.79%-13.03%5.68%8.74%7.03%
21DoubleLine Total Return Bond IDBLTX-0.52%2.47%8.00%N/AN/A
22Federated Instl High Yield Bond InstlFIHBX3.58%8.89%10.27%11.05%9.19%
23Wells Fargo Advantage Adj Rate Govt IEKIZX0.16%0.72%1.74%2.30%2.78%
24American Century CA Hi-Yld Muni InvBCHYX-4.32%-1.79%5.02%5.29%4.90%
25DoubleLine Core Fixed Income IDBLFX-1.63%0.35%7.26%N/AN/A
26Frost Total Return Bond InstFIJEX1.96%5.54%6.85%8.55%6.02%
27Nuveen Interm Duration Muni Bond INUVBX-2.52%-1.15%3.35%4.53%4.20%
28Payden GNMAPYGNX-3.64%-3.28%2.67%5.42%4.91%
29PIMCO Foreign Bond (USD-Hedged) IPFORX-0.69%4.51%6.05%8.27%6.13%
30PIMCO GNMA InstlPDMIX-3.16%-2.79%2.73%5.70%5.34%

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