Fund Evaluator:

Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl Overview

Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl (PBXIX) is an actively managed Allocation Convertibles fund. Rational Funds launched the fund in 2019.

The investment seeks total return consisting of capital appreciation and income. Under normal conditions, the fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in convertible securities. Convertible securities are "hybrid" securities that possess both fixed income and equity characteristics. The fund will generally invest primarily in investment-grade instruments. It is non-diversified.

About Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl (PBXIX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.65 years: Sean Aurigemma (2019), Frank Timons (2019). 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 ICE BofA IG US conv 5% const TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl has 35 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 47.9% 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.

Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl is part of the Hybrid Securities global asset class and is within the Allocation fund group. Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 14.9%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 21.6% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 56.8% convertible bond). Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl has 6.8% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $238 million in total assets, which is above the $212 million average for the Convertibles 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.

PBXIX 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 Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Convertibles category. Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl has an expense ratio of 1.00%, which is 10% 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. Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl has a portfolio turnover rate of 185%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 109% for the Convertibles category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl returned -0.4%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Convertibles category had an average return of -4.5%. 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.

Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl has a trailing yield of 4.98%, which is above the 1.71% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

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.

Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 9.8%, 3.2 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 10.0% over the past year (grade of F), 8.2% over the past three years (grade of F) and 3.0% per year over the past five years (grade of F).

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 Rational/Pier 88 Convertible Secs Instl, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.