Fund Evaluator:

Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F Overview

Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F (LSDFX) is an actively managed Municipal Bond Muni National Short fund. Lord Abbett launched the fund in 2008.

The investment seeks the maximum amount of interest income exempt from federal income tax as is consistent with reasonable risk. In pursuing its investment objective, the fund uses the volatility of the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Short 1-5 Year Index as an approximation of reasonable risk. Under normal conditions, it invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in municipal bonds that pay interest exempt from federal income tax.

About Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F (LSDFX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 17.59 years: Daniel Vande Velde (2008), Daniel Solender (2008). 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 Municipal 1-5 Yr TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F has 251 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 15.8% 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.

Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Municipal Bond fund group. Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F has 1.3% 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 97.2% (95.9% domestic bond, 1.3% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F has 2.8% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $17 million in total assets, which is below the $633 million average for the Muni National Short 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.

LSDFX 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 Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Muni National Short category. Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F has an expense ratio of 0.55%, which is 5% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F has a portfolio turnover rate of 64%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 51% for the Muni National Short category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F returned -0.4%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Muni National Short category had an average return of -0.5%. 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.

Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F has a trailing yield of 2.91%, which is above the 2.78% 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.

Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 0.7%, 0.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 2.5% over the past year (grade of D), 3.1% over the past three years (grade of D) and 1.2% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 1.4% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about Lord Abbett Short Duration Tax Free F, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.