But in most cases, I think I have a better chance at limiting risk (and ideally boosting returns) by sticking with open-end bond funds like DoubleLine Core Fixed Income (DLFNX), DoubleLine Total Return (DLTNX), Thompson Bond (THOPX), PIMCO Income (PONDX), and PIMCO Foreign Bond US Hedged (PFODX).

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The four iShares index funds (see table below), issued by the Global Investors unit of Barclays (nyse: BCS - news - people ), sport a rock-bottom expense ratio of 0.15 versus open-end bond fund averages of around 1.00 and the 0.20 charged by low-cost leader Vanguard.

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My policy on bond investing is to only use open-end no load Institutional class mutual funds to invest in bonds.

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