SSTYX

Short-Term Bond Plus Fund

$8.52
NAV
+$0.00 / +0.00%
$692.1M
Fund assets
4.67%
30-Day SEC yield*
4.63%
Year-to-date return
Data as of 11/1/2024
*As of 10/31/2024
Fund overview
A broad universe of securities held in a short target duration portfolio
The Short-Term Bond Plus Fund seeks current income through a diversified portfolio of fixed income securities with an average maturity of fewer than three years.

The flexibility to allocate capital across a broad spectrum of global short-term sectors provides investors the opportunity to generate attractive income and risk-adjusted returns.
 
Key  differentiators

  • Uses a six-month investment horizon to anticipate market inflection points
  • Allocates strategically to a variety of alpha sources through security selection, sector allocation, and duration and curve positioning
  • Seeks diversified and unbiased sources of alpha to generate compelling returns

General facts

Effective duration

1.99

(as of 9/30/2024)

Effective maturity

2.55

(as of 9/30/2024)

Distribution yield

4.95%

(as of 11/1/2024)

Benchmark name

Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index

Morningstar category

Short-Term Bond

Lipper category

Short Investment Grade Debt Funds

Ticker

SSTYX

CUSIP

94988V357

Fund number

4812

Gross expense ratio

0.44%

(as of 1/1/2024)

Net expense ratio

0.25%

(as of 1/1/2024)

Fund inception date

8/31/1987

Quick resources

Morningstar Rating™

Out of 522 funds, Short-Term Bond As of 9/30/2024


An investment’s Overall Morningstar Rating™, based on its risk-adjusted return, is a weighted average of its applicable 3-, 5-, and 10-year Ratings.

Q3 review and outlook

Janet Rilling, Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of the Plus Fixed Income team, discusses key markets events, drivers of fixed income performance in Q3 and changes to the team’s outlook and positioning.

Transcript

Janet Rilling: Welcome to the third quarter fixed income recap. During the quarter, bond markets delivered strongly positive total returns as a sizable rally in rates and the steepening of the yield curve led to bond prices that went higher. Investors saw a range of results depending on their allocation across the yield curve and the quality makeup of their portfolio. Broadly, bonds with more duration or, in other words, those that are more sensitive to changes in interest rates, and those with lower quality ratings outperformed bonds of higher quality or those with shorter duration. Yields fell and spreads, which is the additional compensation investors earn for bearing credit risk, mostly narrowed. A leading driver of the move in rates was the U.S. Federal Reserve, also known as the Fed, which began its rate cutting cycle and ended the higher for longer era in which bond markets have been trading for several quarters. U.S. economic data remained resilient and inflation continued to ease, giving the Fed confidence to implement a more aggressive 50 basis point (100 basis points equal 1%) cut to the Fed funds rate to start the easing cycle. There was a brief risk-off episode in early August, which was short-lived, but demonstrated that investors are still a bit on edge about the path of the economic cycle. The Fed joined other developed market central banks, such as the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, and the Bank of Canada, who had all lowered their main monetary policy rate in the second quarter. While there are outliers, such as Japan and Brazil who recently raised rates, this puts the United States in better sync with many central banks, who are moving to lower the restrictiveness of their policy rates. We believe this more synchronized global rate easing should offer some support to much of the global economy and allow recessionary risks to ease. That bodes well for the fundamental outlook. Demand for income continues to be very strong. Issuance in the investment grade and high yield corporate bond markets are at record levels in 2024, offering a strong technical support for investors. That leaves bond investors with supportive fundamentals and technicals, but valuations are stretched. Bond yields are lower than where they were a year ago, but relative to most of the last 15 years, they remain elevated. The income potential afforded through the public global fixed income markets is extremely high. Credit spreads, however, are very tight or low. Investors are getting paid less today to take credit risk in U.S. investment grade or high yield corporate credit than they have for nearly all of the last 15 years. Our outlook expects that the Fed will continue to ease policy, but we expect a more gradual rate cutting path, which implies that yields will remain somewhat elevated. We continue to see this as a good environment to source high-quality, broadly diversified income. That has led us to position portfolios with a neutral duration posture and to find opportunities to earn carry while moving up in quality and reducing our exposure to lower-rated sectors where valuations have gotten extreme. We have positioned our U.S investment grade credit allocation towards the low end of our neutral range and we remain underweight U.S. high yield exposures relative to past positioning. We modestly shifted plus sector exposures in the third quarter by taking advantage of the volatility in early August through a small increase in U.S. high yield bonds and European high yield corporates. And we added to our high-quality liquid exposures in global government bonds as U.S. yields fell. We believe rate and spread volatility will persist. We have built optionality into portfolios and have moved modestly up in quality. We'll look to tactically exploit opportunities through timely adjustments to positioning, using our multiple levers based on our six-month outlook and an unbiased approach. Thank you for your time and please reach out to your Allspring Global Investments contact if you have any questions about anything we discussed or would like some additional information.

Performance

Average annual returns

Average annual returns

(as of 9/30/2024)
8/31/1987
1M
3M
YTD
1Y
3Y
5Y
10Y
Inception
Fund
0.94
3.18
5.29
8.76
2.02
2.68
2.33
4.51
Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Government/Credit Bond Index
0.83
2.96
4.38
7.19
1.50
1.70
1.65
4.25
Lipper Short Investment Grade Debt Funds
0.83
2.90
5.05
8.20
1.91
2.13
1.96
-
Expenses (as of 1/1/2024)
Gross Expense Ratio
0.44 %
Net Expense Ratio
0.25 %

One-month, three-month and year-to-date returns are not annualized.

Figures quoted represent past performance, which is no guarantee of future results, and do not reflect taxes that a shareholder may pay on an investment in a fund. Investment return, principal value, and yields 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 and assumes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. 

Net asset value (NAV) is the value of one share of the fund excluding any sales charges.

R6 Class shares are sold without a front-end sales charge or contingent deferred sales charge.

The manager has contractually committed, through 12/31/2024, to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses to the extent necessary to cap the fund's total annual fund operating expenses after fee waivers at 0.24%. Brokerage commissions, stamp duty fees, interest, taxes, acquired fund fees and expenses (if any), and extraordinary expenses are excluded from the expense cap. Prior to or after the commitment expiration date, the cap may be increased or the commitment to maintain the cap may be terminated only with the approval of the Board of Trustees. Without this cap, the fund's returns would have been lower. The expense ratio paid by an investor is the net expense ratio (the total annual fund operating expenses after fee waivers) as stated in the prospectus.

Calendar year

Calendar year

(as of 12/31/2023)
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Fund
6.25
-4.71
0.32
6.03
4.85
1.42
1.31
2.17
0.89
1.23
Benchmark
4.61
-3.69
-0.47
3.33
4.03
1.60
0.84
1.28
0.65
0.77
Morningstar
5.73
-5.22
0.05
3.81
4.72
0.92
1.73
2.08
0.19
1.07
Growth of $10,000

Growth of a $10,000 investment

(as of 9/30/2024)

This chart shows the value of a hypothetical $10,000 investment in the fund over the specified time period up to 10 years or since its inception (for funds lacking 10-year records). The result is compared with benchmarks, which may include a broad-based market index and a peer group average or index. Market indexes do not include expenses, which are deducted from fund returns as well as mutual fund averages and indexes.

Does not include sales charges and assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. If sales charges were included, returns would be lower.

Performance and volatility metrics

Performance and volatility metrics

(as of 9/30/2024)
3 Year 5 Year 10 Year
Alpha 0.30 0.74 5.30
Beta 1.14 1.14 1.09
Excess Return 0.52 0.98 0.68
Information Ratio 0.67 0.57 0.55
Sharpe Ratio -0.57 0.10 0.32
R2 0.94 0.63 0.64
Tracking Error 0.77 1.73 1.25
Standard Deviation 2.84 2.78 2.07
Upside Market Capture Ratio 121.36 135.02 125.91
Downside Market Capture Ratio 111.84 107.14 95.27
Morningstar ratings and rankings

Morningstar ratings and rankings

(as of 9/30/2024)
Overall
Short-Term Bond (Out of 522 funds)
Three Year
33rd percentile (139 out of 522)
Five Year
15th percentile (59 out of 486)
Ten Year
22nd percentile out of 366

The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted-average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) ratings.

Morningstar rankings represent a fund's total return rank relative to all funds that have the same category. The percentile ranking is based on the fund's total return percentile rank relative to all funds that have the same category for the same time period. The highest (most favorable) percentile rank is 1% and the lowest (least favorable) percentile rank is 100%. Morningstar rankings do not include the effect of sales charges. The absolute ranking is based on the fund’s total return rank relative to all funds that have the same category for the same time period. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Prices, yields and distributions

Historical prices

YTD high $8.64 9/23/2024
YTD low $8.38 4/30/2024
52-week high $8.64 9/23/2024
52-week low $8.28 11/2/2023
2023 high $8.45 12/19/2023
2023 low $8.24 10/25/2023
Best quarterly return 4.54% 6/30/2020
Worst quarterly return -2.69% 3/31/2022
Best annual return 6.25% 12/31/2023
Worst annual return -4.71% 12/31/2022

Distribution summary

Dividends Monthly/Monthly accrual
Capital gains Annually

Yields

Yield Statistic Date
Distribution yield 4.95% 11/1/2024
30-day SEC yield 4.67% 10/31/2024
30-day unsubsidized SEC yield 4.49% 10/31/2024
Yield to maturity 4.70% 9/30/2024
Yield to worst 4.66% 9/30/2024

Distribution history

Distribution history Type Per share amount Re investment price
2024-10-25 Dividend $0.03584 $8.53
2024-09-24 Dividend $0.03046 $8.61
2024-08-26 Dividend $0.03507 $8.55
2024-07-25 Dividend $0.03156 $8.48
2024-06-24 Dividend $0.0275 $8.45
2024-05-24 Dividend $0.03531 $8.41
2024-04-24 Dividend $0.02833 $8.39
2024-03-25 Dividend $0.0323 $8.44
2024-02-23 Dividend $0.02817 $8.42
2024-01-25 Dividend $0.01956 $8.45
2023-12-20 Dividend $0.04247 $8.42
2023-11-22 Dividend $0.03116 $8.31
2023-10-25 Dividend $0.03732 $8.24
2023-09-25 Dividend $0.03238 $8.28
2023-08-25 Dividend $0.02196 $8.29
2023-07-25 Dividend $0.0308 $8.30
2023-06-26 Dividend $0.02722 $8.31
2023-05-24 Dividend $0.02669 $8.33
2023-04-24 Dividend $0.02355 $8.37
2023-03-27 Dividend $0.02859 $8.36
2023-02-22 Dividend $0.02039 $8.30
2023-01-25 Dividend $0.01298 $8.37
2022-12-21 Dividend $0.03158 $8.29
2022-11-23 Dividend $0.02382 $8.24
2022-10-25 Dividend $0.01727 $8.21
2022-09-26 Dividend $0.02022 $8.25
2022-08-25 Dividend $0.01774 $8.42
2022-07-25 Dividend $0.00431 $8.44
2022-06-24 Dividend $0.01319 $8.41
2022-05-24 Dividend $0.01185 $8.51
2022-04-25 Dividend $0.01133 $8.54
2022-03-25 Dividend $0.01179 $8.59
2022-02-22 Dividend $0.01415 $8.72
2022-01-25 Dividend $0.00563 $8.83
2021-12-23 Dividend $0.06468 $8.86
2021-12-09 Long-term capital gain $0.01519 $8.87
2021-12-09 Short-term capital gain $0.05743 $8.87
2021-11-23 Dividend $0.00852 $8.95
2021-10-25 Dividend $0.00691 $8.98
2021-09-24 Dividend $0.012009999 $9.01
2021-08-25 Dividend $0.00745 $9.01
2021-07-26 Dividend $0.01143 $9.02
2021-06-24 Dividend $0.01329 $9.03
2021-05-24 Dividend $0.01207 $9.04
2021-04-26 Dividend $0.00992 $9.03
2021-03-25 Dividend $0.01069 $9.03
2021-02-22 Dividend $0.01342 $9.05
2021-01-25 Dividend $0.01468 $9.05
2020-12-21 Dividend $0.0163 $9.04
2020-12-09 Long-term capital gain $0.02072 $9.04
2020-12-09 Short-term capital gain $0.08181 $9.04
2020-11-23 Dividend $0.01626 $9.11
2020-10-26 Dividend $0.01333 $9.08
2020-09-24 Dividend $0.01414 $9.06
2020-08-25 Dividend $0.01059 $9.07
2020-07-31 Dividend $0.016022202 $9.06
2020-06-30 Dividend $0.016875584 $8.99
2020-05-29 Dividend $0.017532279 $8.92
2020-04-30 Dividend $0.017422932 $8.81
2020-03-31 Dividend $0.018275465 $8.65
2020-02-28 Dividend $0.018127588 $8.89
2020-01-31 Dividend $0.018323223 $8.85
2019-12-31 Dividend $0.018559126 $8.82
2019-11-29 Dividend $0.018573435 $8.81
2019-10-31 Dividend $0.019068027 $8.83
2019-09-30 Dividend $0.019440474 $8.82
2019-08-30 Dividend $0.019672439 $8.83
2019-07-31 Dividend $0.020055164 $8.79
2019-06-28 Dividend $0.019697761 $8.80
2019-05-31 Dividend $0.019955806 $8.77
2019-04-30 Dividend $0.020087635 $8.74
2019-03-29 Dividend $0.019984019 $8.73
2019-02-28 Dividend $0.019927806 $8.69
2019-01-31 Dividend $0.01953673 $8.68
2018-12-31 Dividend $0.018714746 $8.64
2018-11-30 Dividend $0.018184506 $8.61
2018-10-31 Dividend $0.017781097 $8.62
2018-09-28 Dividend $0.016904027 $8.64
2018-08-31 Dividend $0.016558197 $8.66
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The 30-day SEC yield is calculated with a standardized formula mandated by the SEC. The formula is based on maximum offering price per share and includes the effect of any fee waivers. Without waivers, yields would be reduced. The 30-day unsubsidized SEC yield does not reflect waivers in effect. A fund’s actual distribution rate will differ from the SEC yield and any income distributions from the fund may be higher or lower than the SEC yield.

Composition

Portfolio statistics

Portfolio statistics

(as of 9/30/2024)
Fund Benchmark
Number of Holdings 333 1984
Effective Duration 1.99 1.86
Weighted Average Effective Maturity 2.55 Years 1.99 Years
AMT 0.00 0.00
Average Credit Rating A+ AA
Average Maturity 8.56 Years 2.06 Years
Credit Spread Duration 2.21 1.88

Fixed Income Style Box

(as of 9/30/2024) Overview chart

Placement within the Morningstar Equity Style Box is based on two variables: relative median market capitalization and relative price valuations (price/book and price/earnings) of the fund’s portfolio holdings. These numbers are drawn from the fund’s portfolio holdings figures most recently entered into Morningstar’s database and the corresponding market conditions. The Ownership Zone is represented by a shaded area surrounding the centroid. This zone encompasses 75% of a portfolio’s holdings on an asset-weighted basis and is designed to be a visual measure of how wide-ranging the portfolio is.

Credit quality

Credit quality

(as of 9/30/2024)
Type
Fund
Benchmark
AAA/Aaa
11.31% 4.31%
AA/Aa
36.19% 73.43%
A/A
19.49% 11.92%
BBB/Baa
23.89% 10.35%
BB/Ba
3.02% -
B/B
1.40% -
Not rated
6.27% -
Cash & equivalents
-1.57% -

The ratings indicated are from Standard & Poor's, Fitch Ratings Ltd., and/or Moody's Investors Service. The percentages of the fund's portfolio with the ratings depicted in the chart are calculated based on total investments of the fund. If a security was rated by all three rating agencies, the middle rating was used. If rated by two of three rating agencies, the lower rating was used, and if rated by one of the agencies, that rating was used. Credit quality is subject to change and may have changed since the date specified. Percent total may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Maturity

Maturity

(as of 9/30/2024)
Maturity Range
Fund
0 - 1 year
14.70%
1 - 3 years
54.94%
3 - 5 years
24.42%
5 - 10 years
5.64%
10 - 20 years
0.33%
20+ years
0.00%

Maturity distribution is subject to change and may have changed since the date specified. Percent total may not add to 100% due to rounding.

Holdings

Top 10 holdings

(as of 9/30/2024)
Security
Fund
U.S. Treasuries
5.85%
GNMA II TBA 30 YR 6.5 JUMBOS
4.07%
U.S. Treasuries
3.88%
U.S. Treasuries
3.52%
U.S. Treasuries
3.29%
GNMA II TBA - G2SF 6.000 OCT 10/01/2053
2.54%
GINNIE MAE II POOL
1.28%
GINNIE MAE II POOL
0.86%
GNMA
0.85%
FNMA POOL MA5507 FN 10/39 FIXED 5
0.83%
Top 10 represents 26.97% of total net assets
Portfolio composition

Portfolio composition

(as of 9/30/2024)
Credit Assets
Allocation
Benchmark
U.S. treasuries
17.88% 69.61%
ABS
10.23% -
CLO
3.12% -
CMBS
3.71% -
CMO
6.46% -
Corporate bonds
45.19% 25.59%
Foreign government bonds
2.13% -
Government-related
0.08% 0.07%
MBS
11.22% -

Portfolio composition and maturity distribution are subject to change and may have changed since the date specified. Percent total may not add to 100% due to rounding

Documents

Literature Details Frequency
Fact Sheet A, C, Institutional, R6 Quarterly Download
Regulatory Document Details Date
Annual Long Form Financial Statements R6, Institutional, C, A 8/31/2024 Download
Annual Report R6 8/31/2024 Download
Full Prospectus R6 1/1/2024 Download
Quarterly Holdings A, C, Institutional, R6 11/30/2023 Download
Quarterly Holdings A, C, Institutional, R6 5/31/2024 Download
Semi-annual Report A, C, Institutional, R6 2/29/2024 Download
Statement of Additional Information A, C, Institutional, R6 1/1/2024 Download
Summary Prospectus R6 1/1/2024 Download
Our team
Meet the investment team

The team employs a sector specialist model whereby tenured investment professionals are supported by rigorous credit research to source opportunities across global fixed income markets.

Key risks

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Bond values fluctuate in response to the financial condition of individual issuers, general market and economic conditions, and changes in interest rates. Changes in market conditions and government policies may lead to periods of heightened volatility in the bond market and reduced liquidity for certain bonds held by the fund. In general, when interest rates rise, bond values fall and investors may lose principal value. Interest rate changes and their impact on the fund and its share price can be sudden and unpredictable. Consult the fund’s prospectus for additional information on these and other risks.

Contact Us

We look forward to helping you with your investment needs

 

  
The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or star rating, is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar risk-adjusted return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its 3-, 5-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% 3-year rating for 36–59 months of total returns, 60% 5-year rating/40% 3-year rating for 60–119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% 5-year rating/20% 3-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent 3-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Some of Morningstar’s proprietary calculations, including the Morningstar Rating™, are not customarily calculated based on adjusted historical returns. However, for new share classes/channels, Morningstar may calculate an extended-performance Morningstar Rating. The extended performance is calculated by adjusting the historical total returns of the oldest share class of a fund to reflect the fee structure of the younger share class/channel, attaching this data to the younger share class’s performance record, and then compounding the adjusted plus actual monthly returns into the extended-performance Morningstar risk-adjusted return for the 3-, 5-, and 10-year time periods. The Morningstar risk-adjusted returns are used to determine the extended-performance Morningstar Rating. The extended-performance Morningstar Rating for this fund does not affect the retail fund data published by Morningstar, as the bell curve distribution on which the ratings are based includes only funds with actual returns. The Overall Morningstar Rating for multi-share funds is based on actual performance only or extended performance only. Once the share class turns three years old, the Overall Morningstar Rating will be based on actual ratings only. The Overall Morningstar Rating for multi-share variable annuities is based on a weighted average of any ratings that are available.

While the inclusion of pre-inception data in the form of extended performance can provide valuable insight into the probable long-term behavior of newer share classes of a fund, investors should be aware that an adjusted historical return can provide only an approximation of that behavior. For example, the fee structures of a retail share class will vary from that of an institutional share class, as retail shares tend to have higher operating expenses and sales charges. These adjusted historical returns are not actual returns. The underlying investments in the share classes used to calculate the pre-performance string likely will vary from the underlying investments held in the fund after inception. Calculation methodologies used by Morningstar may differ from those applied by other entities, including the fund itself.

The manager has contractually committed to certain fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements. Without these reductions, the fund’s returns would have been lower and rankings may have been lower. These reductions may be discontinued.

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Performance for the fund or the class shown may reflect a predecessor fund's or class' performance and may be adjusted to reflect the fund's or class' expenses as applicable.