United StatesPerformance and Portfolio Update
- The Pax Core Bond Fund underperformed the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index in the first quarter.
- Security selection within the Corporate and Securitized sectors were the largest detractors to relative performance. Specifically, floating-rate securities were impacted by the Federal Reserve’s intention to pause on raising interest rates. The Fund’s allocation to asset-backed securities detracted from performance as these products did not tighten as much as other fixed income sectors.
- Conversely, the Fund’s Treasury holdings helped relative performance. Treasury Inflation Protection Securities (TIPS) recovered nicely from a December sell-off as investors started pricing in additional growth and inflation into economic projections.
- Overall, the Fund continues to be positioned to perform well in a late credit cycle environment. The portfolio remains less sensitive to credit spreads, which traditionally widen as the economy slows down. However, we have added marginally to our more credit-sensitive sectors. While we maintain the view that the risks to the credit markets outweigh the steady economy, we do recognize the Federal Reserve’s efforts to become more accommodative. As such, we have become a little less bearish since last quarter.
- During the quarter we added or increased our position size in 24 impact holdings across four fixed income sectors including corporate, securitized, government and taxable municipals. Impact holdings now stand at 23.4% of the Fund’s allocation.
Performance(as of 3/31/19) | Returns (%) | Average Annual Returns (%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Month | Quarter | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception1 | |
| Core Bond Fund - Investor Class | 1.74 | 2.64 | 2.64 | 3.90 | - | - | - | 2.56 |
| Core Bond Fund - Institutional Class | 1.76 | 2.70 | 2.70 | 4.16 | - | - | - | 2.82 |
| Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Index | 1.92 | 2.94 | 2.94 | 4.48 | - | - | - | 3.34 |
| Lipper Core Bond Funds Index | 1.90 | 3.32 | 3.32 | 4.38 | - | - | - | 3.41 |
Performance data quoted represent past performance, which does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. For most recent month-end performance information call 800.767.1729 or visit paxstaging.wpengine.com
Figures include reinvested dividends, capital gains distributions and changes in principal value.
1The inception date for the Pax Core Bond Fund Institutional Class and Investor Class is December 16, 2016.
As of 5/1/18 prospectus, total annual Core Bond Fund operating expenses, gross of any fee waivers or reimbursements (excluding Acquired Fund fees and expenses), for Investor Class and Institutional Class shares are 0.71% and 0.46%, respectively.
Performance Attribution(as of 3/31/19) Sector: Average Active Weights (%) | Total Relative Contribution (%) |
|---|---|
 |  |
XOther: ETFs (for short-term cash mgmt. purposes) and Cash & Equivalents.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Portfolio Characteristics(as of 3/31/19) | Fund | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Effective Duration)∱ | 5.68% | 5.77% |
| Years to Maturity∼ | 13.60 | 12.94 |
| 30 Day SEC Yield∘ | ||
| Individual | 2.42% | |
| Institutional | 2.68% |
Top 10 Holdings
(as of 3/31/19)
United States Treasury Note, 3.125%, 5/15/48 4.5%, United States Treasury Note, 2.625%, 2/28/23 4.3%, United States Treasury Note, 2.625%, 12/31/25 3.7%, United States Treasury Note, 2.750%, 9/30/20 2.5%, United States Treasury Note, 2.125%, 11/30/23 2.2%, United States Treasury Note, 4.500%, 2/15/36 1.7%, United States Treasury Note, 4.375%, 11/15/39 1.5%, United States Treasury Note, 0.375%, 7/15/27 1.5%, United States Treasury Note, 2.375%, 3/15/21 1.0% and United States Treasury Note, 0.125%, 4/15/22 0.9%. Holdings are subject to change.
Definitions
†Spread duration is the sensitivity of the price of a bond to a 100 basis point change to its option-adjusted spread. As the rate of the Treasury security in the option-adjusted spread increases, the rate of the option-adjusted spread also increases. A basis point (bps) is a unit that is equal to 1/100th of 1%, and is used to denote the change in a financial instrument. The basis point is commonly used for calculating changes in interest rates, equity indexes and the yield of a fixed-income security.
ƒEffective Duration is a measure of a security’s price sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Securities with longer durations are more sensitive to changes in interest rates than securities of shorter durations.
~Years to Maturity (weighted average) is the number of years until the bond matures and/or expires.
°30-Day SEC Yield: An annualized yield based on the most recent 30-day period.
The statements and opinions expressed are those of the author as of the date of this report. All information is historical and not indicative of future results and subject to change. This information is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
PAX008537 (7/19)