Fund Evaluator:

Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc Overview

Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc (FTGSX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Intermediate Government fund. Federated launched the fund in 1995.

The investment seeks total return consistent with current income. The fund's overall strategy is to invest in a portfolio consisting primarily of U.S. Treasury securities, U.S. government agency securities and related derivative contracts. It buys and sells portfolio securities based primarily on its market outlook and analysis of how securities may perform under different market conditions. The fund will invest its assets so that at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) are invested in U.S. government investments.

About Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc (FTGSX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.26 years: Liam O'Connell (2017), J. Andrew Kirschler (2017). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg US Government TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc has 101 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 33.2% 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.

Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc has 0.0% 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 97.1% (97.1% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc has 2.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $12 million in total assets, which is below the $942 million average for the Intermediate Government 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.

FTGSX 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 Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Intermediate Government category. Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc has an expense ratio of 0.67%, which is 10% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. 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. Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc has a portfolio turnover rate of 37%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 99% for the Intermediate Government category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc returned -1.3%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Intermediate Government category had an average return of -1.2%. 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.

Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc has a trailing yield of 3.91%, which is above the 3.55% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains semi-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.

Federated Hermes Total Ret Govt Bd Svc Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned -1.0%, 0.0 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 2.1% over the past year (grade of C), 2.7% over the past three years (grade of F) and -1.2% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 0.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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