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Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R Overview

Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R (WAFRX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Inflation-Protected Bond fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 2012.

The investment seeks to maximize total return, consistent with preservation of capital. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in inflation-indexed fixed income securities and at least 70% of its net assets in U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. Although the fund may invest in securities of any maturity, the fund will normally maintain a dollar-weighted average effective duration, as estimated by the fund's subadvisers, within 3 years of that of its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury: U.S. TIPS.

About Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R (WAFRX)

There are 6 members of the management team with an average tenure of 2.64 years: Amit Chopra (2024), Nicholas Mastroianni (2026), Rafael Zielonka (2026), Mark Lindbloom (2026), Michael Buchanan (2024), Frederick Marki (2016). 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 Treasury US TIPS TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R has 67 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 72.9% 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.

Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R has 4.2% 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 98.6% (94.4% domestic bond, 4.2% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R has 1.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $40 million in total assets, which is below the $869 million average for the Inflation-Protected 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.

WAFRX 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 Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Inflation-Protected Bond category. Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R has an expense ratio of 1.15%, which is 58% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. 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. Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R has a portfolio turnover rate of 41%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 72% for the Inflation-Protected Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R returned -0.9%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Inflation-Protected Bond category had an average return of -0.8%. 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.

Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R has a trailing yield of 3.75%, which is below the 4.20% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly 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.

Western Asset Inflation Idxd Plus Bd R Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned -0.2%, 0.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 1.5% over the past year (grade of F), 2.4% over the past three years (grade of F) and -0.9% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 1.3% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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