BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Calvert Government Fund (Ticker: CGVAX) celebrates three-years of solid performance, outperforming its benchmark, the Barclays Capital U.S. Government Index, for the three-year/since-inception time period; the Fund ranked 15 among 106 funds in its peer group, the Lipper General U.S. Government Universe, as of 12/31/11 since the Fund’s inception on December 31, 2008. In addition, the Fund received a five star rating by Morningstar (the highest rating given by Morningstar) for the three-year and overall categories in the US Open-End Short Government Category, ranking 1 out of 134 investments in that category, as of 12/31/2011 (see information about Morningstar ratings below).
The Fund is managed by Lead Portfolio Manager Matt Duch and Co-Portfolio Manager Michael Abramo at Calvert Investment Management, Inc. (CIM). The CIM team has demonstrated a proven ability to monitor yield curves, manage interest rate risk, and opportunistically allocate to sectors complementing the U.S. Government focus.
“We employed a short relative duration strategy at the start of 2011, which drove strong relative returns through early April,” said Matt Duch. “The Fund’s positions in agency, high-quality, short asset-backed securities and a small position in corporate bonds helped performance, as these sectors significantly outperformed Treasuries during the first half of the reporting period. We constantly compare the appreciation potential and attractiveness of securities held in the Fund’s portfolio against those available in the marketplace and employ an active trading strategy,” he added.
The Calvert Government Fund seeks to provide a high level of current income while preserving capital, primarily through investment in debt securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities. The Fund may also invest in futures contracts related to U.S. Government securities.
“Our team applies multiple strategies to adjust the interest-rate sensitivity of the portfolio as market conditions fluctuate,” said Cathy Roy, Chief Investment Officer of Fixed Income at Calvert Investment Management, Inc. “The portfolio team manages the Fund’s duration and positions its exposure along the yield curve to take advantage of market volatility and return opportunities,” she added.
Period Ending 12/31/2011:
| Calvert Government Fund | 1YR | 3YR | 5YR |
Since Inception
(12/31/08) |
Morningstar
Ratings |
||||||||||||||||||
| A Shares with (3.75% Sales Charge) | 2.81% | 6.24% | N/A | 6.24% |
* * * * * |
||||||||||||||||||
| A Shares at Net Asset Value (NAV) | 6.81% | 7.59% | N/A | 7.59% |
* * * * * |
||||||||||||||||||
| 9.02% | 4.01% | N/A | 4.01% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8.57% | 6.11% | 6.12 | 6.11% | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ranking at NAV within Lipper Peer Group | 67/115 | 15/106 | N/A | 15/106 |
Gross Expense Ratio: 3.81%. Net Expense Ratio: 1.04%. Performance data quoted already reflects deduction of fund operating expenses. Net expense ratio reflects contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement through January 31, 2012. The performance data quoted represents past performance, which does not guarantee future results. The 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 higher or lower than the performance data quoted. Visit www.calvert.com to obtain performance data current to the most recent month-end.
Bond funds are subject to interest rate risk and credit risk. When interest rates rise, the value of fixed-income securities will generally fall. In addition, the credit quality of fixed-income securities may deteriorate, which could lead to default or bankruptcy of the issuer where the issuer becomes unable to pay its obligations when due.
About Lipper:
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Lipper rankings are based on total returns. The rankings assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains but exclude the effects of any applicable sales loads. The Lipper ranking is for Class A, and the ranking may include more than one share class of funds in the category, including other share classes of the Fund. Rankings are relative peer group ratings and do not necessarily mean that the Fund had high total returns. Source: Lipper, Inc.
About Morningstar Ratings:
Performance data quoted represents past performance, which does not guarantee future results. For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive five stars, the next 22.5% receive four stars, the next 35% receive three stars, the next 22.5% receive two stars, and the bottom 10% receive one star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) A high rating does not necessarily mean a fund had a positive return for the period. 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) Morningstar Rating metrics. Morningstar rating is for the A share class only; other classes may have different performance characteristics.
© 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.
For more information on any Calvert mutual fund, please call Calvert at 800.818.8397 for a free prospectus. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an investment carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Read it carefully before you invest or send money.
Calvert mutual funds are underwritten and distributed by Calvert Investment Distributors, Inc., member FINRA and subsidiary of Calvert Investments, Inc. (01/12, 11898)