Fund Evaluator:

Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I Overview

Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I (BTRIX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Intermediate Core Bond fund. Perpetual Funds launched the fund in 2022.

The investment seeks to provide maximum long-term total return. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in fixed income securities and other debt instruments. Fixed income securities and other debt instruments include corporate bonds, including high yield bonds, commercial paper, debt securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government and its agencies and instrumentalities, TIPS, municipal bonds, bank loans, loan participations and assignments,mortgage- and asset-backed securities,fixed-income structured products and convertible securities.

About Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I (BTRIX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.23 years: Deborah Petruzzelli (2022), Matthew Routh (2022), Justin Martin (2022), Shannon Hogan (2026). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I has 258 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 24.2% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I has 13.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 87.4% (74.3% domestic bond, 13.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I has 12.7% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $177 million in total assets, which is below the $3 billion average for the Intermediate Core Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

BTRIX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I expense ratio is below average compared to funds in the Intermediate Core Bond category. Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I has an expense ratio of 0.35%, which is 38% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I has a portfolio turnover rate of 72%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 151% for the Intermediate Core Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I returned -1.6%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Intermediate Core Bond category had an average return of -1.3%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I has a trailing yield of 4.81%, which is above the 4.04% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Barrow Hanley Total Return Bond I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned -0.5%, 0.2 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 3.2% over the past year (grade of A) and 4.0% over the past three years (grade of B).

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