Appreciate your commentary FD1000 and others. Always find something to take away and ponder.
Curious as to your thoughts regarding:
FPFIX, FPA Flexible Income Fund, appears to hold higher rated bonds and potentially has capability to deal with rising interest rates
Dominion Energy Reliability Investments, works like a money market, free redemption on demand, complete access to your funds at any time, 2.7% for investment over $50k, on line access, NOT FDIC insured but than again neither are any of the bond OEF being discussed either
Good Health to all,
Baseball Fan

Related
https://apnews.com/435cb3786f0d6692c8143a07e29c3e79
Interesting summaries regarding coronavirus...maybe dreadful volatile market/slowed world economies for ??? 8 or 16 wks, more downfalls perhaps. Took china 6 - 8 wks to handle the problems...
Dows maybe loosing 10 to 25% more imho
Time to research/buckle up /buy more good qualities bonds perhaps

The following is a research I have done for myself
I was looking for a fund to park my money until things come down but also make some money and searched for the followings:
1) higher rated bonds.
2) flexible. The above 2 mean...the Intermediate Core-Plus category.
3) The securitized category should be the biggest because this category behaves better in rate changes. Also some IG Corp bonds.
4) higher income than 3% which is harder to find in a fund with higher rated bonds.
5) ST+LT + last 1-2 weeks with good performance
and I found only one winner PINCX(link). ER=0.74....AUM=2.7 Bill....yield > 3%....IG rating > 90%....Duration=5.1....securitized > 62%
TGLMX has better performance YTD but not 1-3 years and no corp but Yield=3.9%. PTIAX is another possibility, mainly in lower-rated securitized + some Munis, yield about 3.9%. PINCX has better performance for YTD+one year. (Chart) of all 3.
BCOIX,DODIX,USIBX,PDBZX performance trails for YTD,1,3 years and yield < 3%
GTO is another option.
Basically, all the funds I mentioned above are pretty good.

TGBAX is both a bond fund and a currency fund. Hassenstab seems to invest in bonds anywhere in the world based on how he expects those bonds to perform independent of currency movements. In that sense, one can think of the fund as a hedged international bond fund.
But rather than hedging back to the dollar, he takes these assets and makes big currency bets. He can be long on country A's bonds while being short on country A's currency. So he not only decouples bonds from currency, he extensively plays the currency markets as well.
Lewis is correct that Argentinian bonds burned the fund. While in the long term I expect the fund to do well, this shows the risks one takes in concentrated portfolios. A manager's best ideas sometimes are not all that good.

His unusual approach: concentrating investments in a handful of countries that he surmised would offer the highest returns without defaulting. He became a major lender for countries such as Uruguay, Ghana and Ukraine, and government officials routinely visited him seeking his investments.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/franklins-hasenstab-girds-for-a-downturn-11571304601
The fund has been a great diversifier, though. No matter which way your other funds moved, this fund did not move the same way. That's because it hasn't been moving in any direction - returning roughly nothing for the past few years.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-market-meltdown-has-a-surprising-survivor-junk-bonds-11583326802
The Market Meltdown Has a Surprising Survivor: Junk Bonds
High-yield debt is weathering coronavirus scare better than stocks

I loved this fund as a diversifier. Now it seems to be lagging quite a bit for a good 5 years or more.
Is all well at Templeton?

I am strongly debating switching from bond OEFs, which currently comprise 10% of my dad’s income-managed retirement portfolio (essentially bucket 1), to bond ETFs (and i friggin’ hate bond ETFs/indexes).
At TDA, the 180-day holding period made it hard to opportunistically sell out of bond holdings (albeit temporarily) to purchase things that were selling off (and had become good values), such as the PIMCO CEFs (some of which traded at 1.5-2% higher yields last week). VCIT, VCSH, and some of the more conservative (oxymoron?) IG CEFs, such as BTZ and TSI. Currently hold IOFIX (arguably the best multi-sector), PONAX (steady ~5% income), and SEMPX (enhances cash) in this spot. I know OEFs (esp bond OEFs) aren’t for trading...
Ugh. That means I would be holding bond funds for ballast. Yikes....

I am strongly debating switching from bond OEFs, which currently comprise 10% of my dad’s income-managed retirement portfolio (essentially bucket 1), to bond ETFs (and i friggin’ hate bond ETFs/indexes). At TDA, the 180-day holding period made it hard to opportunistically sell out of bond holdings (albeit temporarily) to purchase things that were selling off (and had become good values), such as the PIMCO CEFs (some of which traded at 1.5-2% higher yields last week). VCIT, VCSH, and some of the more conservative (oxymoron?) IG CEFs, such as BTZ and TSI. Currently hold IOFIX (arguably the best multi-sector), PONAX (steady ~5% income), and SEMPX (enhances cash) in this spot.

@VintageFreak, I thought those two funds were different versions of the same portfolio haha.
But I just looked at performance charts comparing the two funds, and VLAAX actually outperformed over almost every time frame. And over 10 years, it’s $5K difference (not sure if either fund changed their mandate over that time frame). Just something I picked up, as VLAAX has gotten a lot of talk recently :)

@Mona - I can't find any precise data to answer your question. I suppose you could give them a call at (800) 645-3923. (Phone number obtained from the Fact Sheet)

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/809593/000080959320000021/0131_fye_funds_liquidation.htm
American Beacon Acadian Emerging Markets Managed Volatility Fund
American Beacon Crescent Short Duration High Income Fund
American Beacon GLG Total Return Fund
497 1 0131_fye_funds_liquidation.htm
Supplement dated March 5, 2020
to the
Prospectus and Summary Prospectuses dated May 31, 2019, as previously amended or supplemented
The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of American Beacon Funds has approved a plan to liquidate and terminate the American Beacon Acadian Emerging Markets Managed Volatility Fund (“Acadian Fund”), the American Beacon Crescent Short Duration High Income Fund (“Crescent Fund”), and the American Beacon GLG Total Return Fund (the “GLG Fund,” and together with the Acadian Fund and the Crescent Fund, the “Funds”) on or about April 30, 2020 (the “Liquidation Date”), upon the recommendation of American Beacon Advisors, Inc., the Funds’ investment manager.
In anticipation of the liquidation, effective immediately, each Fund is closed to new shareholders. To prepare for the liquidation of the Funds, Acadian Asset Management LLC, the sub-advisor to the Acadian Fund, Crescent Capital Group LP, the sub-advisor to the Crescent Fund, and GLG LLC, the sub-advisor to the GLG Fund, may need to increase the portion of the relevant Fund's assets held in cash and similar instruments in order to pay for that Fund’s expenses and to meet redemption requests. The Funds may no longer be pursuing their respective investment objectives during this transition. Each Fund will distribute cash pro rata to all remaining shareholders who have not previously redeemed or exchanged all of their shares on or about the Liquidation Date. These shareholder redemptions may be taxable events. Once the shareholder redemptions are complete, the Funds will terminate.
Please note that you may be eligible to exchange your shares of a Fund at net asset value per share at any time prior to the Liquidation Date for shares of the same share class of another American Beacon Fund under certain limited circumstances. You also may redeem your shares of a Fund at any time prior to the Liquidation Date. No sales charges, redemption fees or termination fees will be imposed in connection with such exchanges and redemptions. In general, exchanges and redemptions are taxable events for shareholders.
In connection with its liquidation, each Fund may declare taxable distributions of its net investment income and net capital gain in advance of its Liquidation Date.
If you own Fund shares in a tax deferred account, such as an individual retirement account, 401(k) or 403(b) account, you should consult your tax adviser to discuss a Fund’s liquidation and determine its tax consequences.
For more information, please contact us at 1-800-658-5811, Option 1. If you purchased shares of a Fund through your financial intermediary, please contact your broker-dealer or other financial intermediary for further details.
***********************************************************
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Interesting Article on Volatility and what's in store over the next year (between now and March 2021):

The rise in T-Bill yields which was taking place leading up to the March 2019 top is now getting echoed in an up trending set of values for the VIX Index. That process is not yet complete, and it won’t be complete until March 2021. The current rapidly falling T-Bill yields are going to mean lower VIX Index readings, but that process won’t begin until a year from now.

vix_rise_overdone_but_part_of_enduring_trend

I did just that @msf in purchasing BIAWX and I also use the $5 automatic buy program but that doesn't allow me to escape the $49.95 fee when considering or attempting to take advantage of opportunistic "buys" on massive down days as we've been experiencing lately. I can't manage $20K on each purchase. Such is life. However that also allows the fund company to somewhat control the money flow into or out of the fund which may be beneficial.

If you're investing a smaller amount, you could invest in the fund via BAWAX. An extra 0.25% in annual expenses is used to offset the brokerage fee enabling you to buy it NTF.
Alternatively, if you invested $20K in BIAWX and hold for a year, you would recoup the $49.95 transaction fee (vs. BAWAX). Going forward, you would pay lower expenses than buying the fund NTF. You could add to the fund for $5/buy.

Don't be too impressed by these DIY investors. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI):

for 2019 as a whole – well, in a year that the S&P 500 rose more than 28%, and the Dow gained 22% (the NASDAQ was up an even better 35%), the average 401(k) balance – buttressed not only by the markets, but by contributions – ended the year 44.9% higher for those workers aged 25-34 with less than 4 years of tenure, while workers with more than 20 years of tenure, aged 55-64, registered a 24.6% increase.

The EBRI figures include 26 million participants working with all sorts of plan custodians, while Schwab's report covers just 142K participants using Schwab's services.
As noted in the quoted paragraph, increases in account values include not only growth but contributions. So the "younger" the account, the greater the impact of a year's worth of contributions. This makes comparisons difficult without more details. Still, even older 401(k) investors did better on average than the Schwab DIY customers.
A word about terminology: "self-directed" means something different when applied to 401(k)s and to IRAs. In the context of 401(k)s, it just means a brokerage window - the ability of participants to invest through a company-designated brokerage. Thus investments are not limited to the 401(k)s menu of options, typically mutual funds, ETFs, stable value funds, and company stock. But they are still limited to what one can buy in a "vanilla" brokerage.
That's simply what one would expect with an "ordinary" IRA. In contrast, a self-directed IRA enables one to invest in virtually anything the IRS allows, including real estate, gold coins, etc. However it is a more complex vehicle. Very different from a 401(k) brokerage window.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/04/dow-markets-biden-super-tuesday-coronavirus/4950498002/
Dow soars nearly 1,200 points as investors weigh Biden resurgence, efforts to guard economies against coronavirus
U.S. stocks soared Wednesday, with a strong showing by former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic primaries buoying investors who view him as a more business-friendly alternative to Bernie Sanders.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/schwab-report-self-directed-401-140000346.html
Schwab Report: Self-Directed 401(k) Investors Finish 2019 Strong With Average Account Balances up 19% Year-Over-Year
According to Charles Schwab’s SDBA Indicators Report, an industry-leading benchmark on retirement plan participant investment activity within self-directed brokerage accounts (SDBAs), the average account balance across all participant accounts finished 2019 at $294,105, a 19% increase year-over-year and a 6% increase from Q3 2019.

https://www.fa-mag.com/news/munis--not-just-for-millionaires-54421.html
Munis, Not Just For Millionaires
MARCH 3, 2020 • DANIEL RABASCO
Municipal bonds (commonly known as “munis”) are debt securities issued by state and local governments, and their agencies and authorities, to fund projects ranging from hospitals and schools to highways and bridges. Munis have been widely viewed as being primarily attractive to investors in high income tax brackets as the interest payments received from the bonds are typically exempt from federal and, in some cases, state and local taxes. But munis—which in 2018 constituted about $3.8 trillion in total assets with 54,000 issuers and one million securities—aren’t strictly for the affluent.

How is Amazon going to get orders delivered if all the delivery people stay home?

Drones? According to Amazon’s consumer worldwide CEO Jeff Wilke last June: “You’re going to see it delivering packages to customers in a matter of months.”
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/5/18654044/amazon-prime-air-delivery-drone-new-design-safety-transforming-flight-video