Skip Navigation

Quality Income Fund

Mutual Funds

Quality Income Fund


Fund Managers

Photo of Michael  Sun

Michael Sun, CFA®

Photo of Jeffrey  Ormsby

Jeffrey Ormsby, CFA®

Photo of Byron  Mims

Byron Mims, CFA®

Overview

C
Shares

SCSTX

Inception
Date

02.01.2013

Investment
Min.

$1,000

Subsequent
Investment Min.1

N/A

Max. Up Front
Sales Charge

N/A

Max. Deferred
Sales Charge

1%

1If subsequent investments are made as part of an AIP, the minimum is $25.

Philosophy & Process

In managing the Fund, the portfolio management team employs a multi-faceted approach to generate excess return and uses a combination of top-down and bottom-up analysis, quantitative vs. qualitative analysis and fundamentals vs. valuation. There is a strong emphasis on risk management and an adherence to certain core investment beliefs:

  • "If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it."
  • Avoid unintended exposures
  • Average duration around 2 to 5 years with focus on high quality and risk management
  • Participate in longer term trends - don't buy on short-term trends or try to time what is going on in the market
  • Attempts to achieve risk-adjusted performance over time

Investment Considerations

The Fund is subject to the same risks as the underlying bonds in the portfolio such as credit, prepayment, call and interest rate risk. As interest rates rise the value of bond prices will decline. The Fund may invest in more aggressive investments such as foreign securities which may expose the Fund to currency and exchange rate fluctuations; derivatives (futures and swaps); mortgage-backed securities sensitive to interest rates and high yield debt (also known as junk bonds), all of which may cause greater volatility and less liquidity. Derivatives may be more sensitive to changes in market conditions and may amplify risks.

Fund Facts

Term Class A Shares Class C Shares Class I Shares
Ticker SCSSXSCSTXSCSPX
Inception Date 02.01.201302.01.201302.01.2013
Investment Min. $1,000$1,000$1,000,000
Subsequent Investment Min.2 N/AN/AN/A
Max. Up Front Sales Charge 2%N/AN/A
Max. Deferred Sales Charge N/A1%N/A

2If subsequent investments are made as part of an AIP, the minimum is $25.

Quality Income Fund

Management

View professional designations disclosures

Photo of Michael  Sun

Michael Sun, CFA®

Co-Portfolio Manager

Photo of Jeffrey  Ormsby

Jeffrey Ormsby, CFA®

Co-Portfolio Manager

Photo of Byron  Mims

Byron Mims, CFA®

Co-Portfolio Manager

Performance

Fund Performance as of 03.31.2025

Term QTR YTD 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years Since Inception
A Shares with 2.00% Sales Charge 0.61% 0.61% 2.97% 0.62% -0.11% 1.27% 1.84%
A Shares without Sales Charge 2.65% 2.65% 5.05% 1.29% 0.30% 1.48% 1.99%
Institutional Shares 2.82% 2.82% 5.43% 1.58% 0.56% 1.75% 2.23%
Lipper U.S. Mortgage Median 2.97% 2.97% 6.02% 0.62% -0.05% 1.05% N/A

The total expense ratios for Class A, C and I Shares are 0.82%, 1.57% and 0.57%, respectively.

The Advisor has contractually agreed to limit certain fees paid by the Fund from 02.01.2025-01.31.2026. Performance would have been lower without limitations in effect.

Past performance does not guarantee future results. The performance data quoted represents past performance and current returns may be lower or higher. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than the original cost. To obtain performance information current to the most recent month end, please visit the performance summary.

The performance of the Sterling Capital Quality Income Fund reflects the deduction of fees for value-added services associated with a mutual fund, such as investment management and fund accounting fees. The inception date for Class A Shares is 02.01.2013. The inception date for Class C Shares is 02.01.2013. The inception date for Class Inst'l Shares is 02.01.2013. The performance shown reflects the reinvestment of all dividend and capital gains distributions. Performance is annualized for periods greater than one year.

Performance for Class A Shares and Institutional Shares for periods prior to inception on 02.01.2013 is based on performance of Class S Shares of the Fund which were re-designated as Institutional Shares as of 02.01.2013. Class A Shares and Institutional Shares of the Fund would have substantially similar performance because the Shares are invested in the same portfolio of securities and the performance would differ only to the extent that the Classes have different expenses.

Characteristics

Quality Breakdown as of 03.31.2025

Credit quality ratings using Moody's rating symbols reflect the credit quality of the underlying bonds in the fund portfolio and not of the Fund itself. Moody's assigns a range of ratings from AAA being the highest quality to C being the lowest rated class of bonds. Securities not rated by Moody's may be rated by S&P, Fitch or if no agency rating is available, the Fund will assign a rating of not rated. Bond quality ratings are subject to change.

Effective Duration Breakdown as of 03.31.2025

Name Value
0-2 Years 8.56
2-4 Years 21.82
4-6 Years 32.90
6-8 Years 27.66
8-10 Years 3.04
10+ Years 6.01

Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to change and risk. Based on Market Value of securities.

Summary Statistics as of 03.31.2025

Name Value
Number of Holdings 239
Average Life 7.14 Years
Effective Duration 5.37 Years
Annual Turnover 10%

Portfolio Composition as of 03.31.2025

Composition Fund Index
Government Related 0.3% 0.0%
    Agency 0.3% 0.0%
Securitized 96.2% 100.0%
    MBS 8.7% 0.0%
    ABS 1.0% 0.0%
    CLO 17.3% 0.0%
    CMBS 23.6% 0.0%
    CMO 45.7% 100.0%
Treasury 2.7% 0.0%
    Treasury 2.7% 0.0%
Cash 0.8% 0.0%
    Cash 0.8% 0.0%

Top Ten Holdings as of 03.31.2025

# Company Name Value
1 FNMA 30Y FS8829 4.500% 01-Sep-2053 2.30%
2 FNMA 30Y FS9455 5.500% 01-Nov-2054 2.27%
3 FHLMC 30Y SD2473 5.000% 01-Feb-2053 2.27%
4 FHLMC 30Y SD6622 5.500% 01-Nov-2054 2.27%
5 Government National Mortgage Assoc. 2.25%
6 FNMA 30Y FS9535 5.000% 01-Oct-2054 2.20%
7 FNMA 30Y BW9905 4.500% 01-Oct-2052 2.16%
8 FHLMC 30Y SD6558 6.000% 01-Sep-2054 1.94%
9 Freddie Mac REMICS 1.93%
10 FNMA 30Y BM5019 4.000% 01-Dec-2047 1.90%

Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to change and risk. Based on Market Value of securities.

Growth of $10,000 as of 03.31.2025

The Growth of $10,000 is hypothetical based upon the performance of net A Shares at NAV for the period ended 03.31.2025. It includes the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

Distribution

Monthly Dividend Distribution as of 04.30.2025

Month Class A Shares Class C Shares Class Inst'l Shares
April 2025 $0.0267 $0.0211 $0.0286
March 2025 $0.0281 $0.0223 $0.0300
February 2025 $0.0282 $0.0243 $0.0300
January 2025 $0.0281 $0.0233 $0.0300
December 2024 $0.0280 $0.0232 $0.0299
July 2024 $0.0244 $0.0195 $0.0263
June 2024 $0.0246 $0.0195 $0.0263
May 2024 $0.0245 $0.0192 $0.0263

30-Day SEC Yield as of 04.30.2025

Share Class Without Waivers With Waivers
Class A 3.56% 3.60%
Class C 2.88% 2.93%
Class I 3.88% 3.93%

Fixed Income Funds

Insights

05.07.2025 • Charles Wittmann, CFA®

The Lead - Follow the Money

- We believe the inputs that create the ability for a company to pay dividends is of critical importance, especially if the economic environment becomes challenging.
- Starting in the later part of 2024, aggregate Bloomberg estimated earnings for the S&P 500® Index began to moderate then decline.
- While dividend payout ratios have improved, we would note that the rate of the market’s dividend growth has fallen almost 50%, to mid-single digits, since 2022.
- We believe more tempered growth expectations and companies signaling greater caution by moderating their commitment to return cash to shareholders via dividends is our sign to remain vigilant on the fundamental sources that generate dividend growth.

04.03.2025 • Charles Wittmann, CFA®

The Lead - Resilient Quality

- Economic sectors associated with value stocks, such as industrials and financials, have seen their quality measurements improve.
- With slowing economic growth and persistent inflation leading to “stagflation” concerns, what type of equity investments tend to shine?
- We show how quality companies that pay dividends and repurchase their shares have differentiated themselves in similar periods.

03.21.2025 • Andrew Richman, CTFA

Fed Lowers Growth Outlook But Raises Inflation Expectations

Andy Richman's update on the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

03.07.2025 • Charles Wittmann, CFA®

The Lead - Raising the Bar

- For the past two years, investors have experienced a powerful price momentum-driven market.
- Price momentum supported by earnings revisions typically have a tight relationship coming out of a recession, but 2024 was different.
- We explore the recent inverse relationship between momentum and dividend payers over this month and the past year.

preview of document

02.28.2025

Sterling Capital Equity Announcement

Today Sterling Capital Management LLC announced the firm has made the difficult decision to close the Mid Cap Fundamental Value investment strategy.

02.04.2025 • Charles Wittmann, CFA®

The Lead - Looking for More

- This month, our discussions with clients involved their search for fast dividend growers in the value space.
- We analyze the fastest dividend growers in the large cap value universe and ask if they are really growing their dividends or just reinstating them.
- We note how we look for both dividend growth and differentiated securities that combine attractive elements of growth, yield, and risk-adjusted returns.

Contact

Learn more about Sterling Capital solutions and services.

Scroll Up