Bond-fund investors need to focus on duration, credit quality, and relative yields to better understand how much risk they're taking on, says Morningstar's Eric Jacobson.
Updates to Morningstar's Bonds to Avoid list include a handful of companies with significant downside risk for bondholders as well as removal of a name with an improved risk/reward profile.
Low bond yields have called into question the safety of the 4% withdrawal strategy, while other avenues for extra retirement income have their own pros and cons, says Morningstar's David Blanchett.
Flows to municipal bond mutual funds remained positive for a seventh straight week, but only modestly so, recording $292 million in inflows for the week of Feb. 20.