Fund Evaluator:

Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I Overview

Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I (ESHIX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond High Yield Bond fund. Eaton Vance launched the fund in 2013.

The investment seeks total return. The fund invests primarily in fixed-income securities rated below investment grade, including floating-rate loans and convertible securities. The fund invests in securities rated Baa or below by Moody's or BBB and below by S&P or Fitch and comparable rated securities, including securities rated below Caa1 by Moody's, CCC+ by S&P or CCC by Fitch Ratings at time of purchase or are unrated and of comparable quality as determined by the investment adviser. The Advisor intends to maintain a dollar-weighted average duration of three years or less. The fund is non-diversified.

About Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I (ESHIX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 3.08 years: Justin Bourgette (2025), Stephen Concannon (2019), Bo Hunt (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Universal TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and ICE BofA 1-3 BB-B US CP HY TR HUSD index with a weighting of 100%. Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I has 202 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 13.0% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I has 11.0% 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 1.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 95.6% (84.6% domestic bond, 11.0% foreign bond and 2.5% convertible bond). Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I has 0.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $71 million in total assets, which is below the $545 million average for the High Yield 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.

ESHIX 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 Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the High Yield Bond category. Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I has an expense ratio of 0.65%, which is 29% 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. Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I has a portfolio turnover rate of 74%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 72% for the High Yield Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I returned 0.2%, which earned it a grade of A, as the High Yield Bond category had an average return of -0.3%. 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.

Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I has a trailing yield of 5.97%, which is below the 6.28% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly.

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.

Eaton Vance Short Duration High Income I Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 2.3%, 0.7 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 5.4% over the past year (grade of B), 6.7% over the past three years (grade of F) and 4.5% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 4.6% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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