MSTBX
Morningstar Defensive Bond Fund
Morningstar Funds Trust
Fund of funds
Expense ratio1
0.52%
Net assets2
$109.71M
Holdings2
207
Category
Allocation
2025 return3
6.51%

Investment objective & strategy

As of Aug. 26, 2025 · prospectus

Objective. The Fund seeks capital preservation.

Strategy. In seeking capital preservation, the Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in a diversified portfolio of debt securities (commonly referred to as bonds) of varying maturity, duration, and quality. Under normal conditions, the Fund intends to pursue a defensive strategy of limiting its interest-rate sensitivity by maintaining a portfolio duration of three years or less. Because of events affecting the bond markets and interest rate changes, the duration of the portfolio might not meet the target at all times. The Fund may also invest in investment companies such as ETFs, which could represent a significant percentage of assets. The Fund invests primarily in short- and intermediate-term investment-grade fixed-income securities. These may include U.S. and non-U.S. investment-grade … In seeking capital preservation, the Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in a diversified portfolio of debt securities (commonly referred to as bonds) of varying maturity, duration, and quality. Under normal conditions, the Fund intends to pursue a defensive strategy of limiting its interest-rate sensitivity by maintaining a portfolio duration of three years or less. Because of events affecting the bond markets and interest rate changes, the duration of the portfolio might not meet the target at all times. The Fund may also invest in investment companies such as ETFs, which could represent a significant percentage of assets. The Fund invests primarily in short- and intermediate-term investment-grade fixed-income securities. These may include U.S. and non-U.S. investment-grade corporate debt securities, U.S. and non-U.S. government debt securities, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. In most market environments, the Fund will not invest more than 20% of assets in fixed-income securities that are rated below investment grade (commonly known as junk bonds), or if unrated, are determined by the Funds subadviser(s) to be of comparable quality. In addition, the Fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), including collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). CDOs are types of asset-backed securities. CLOs are ordinarily issued by a trust or other special purpose entity and are typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and non-U.S. senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans, held by such issuer. Multimanager Approach The Fund uses a multimanager approach, meaning the adviser may allocate assets to one or more subadvisers, in addition to open- and closed-end investment companies, ETFs, and individual securities (collectively Allocation Decisions). The adviser and each subadviser acts independently from the others and uses its own investment style and process to select securities, within the constraints of the Funds investment objective, strategies, and restrictions. Morningstar is responsible for selecting the investment strategies and making Allocation Decisions, with the goal of maximizing return in the context of pursuing the Funds investment objective with a prudent level of risk for the strategy. Morningstar may change subadvisers, subject to the oversight of the board of trustees, and sell holdings at any time.

Top holdings

As of Jan. 30, 2026 · N-PORT
SecurityTickerValue% of fund
Schwab Strategic Trust SHORT-TERM US TREASURY ETF SCHO $39.39M 35.90%
iShares Ultra Short Duration Bond Active ETF ICSH $13.14M 11.98%
Northern Institutional Liquid Asset Portfolio $12.93M 11.79%
VANGUARD SHORT-TERM TIPS MUTUAL FUND VTIP $6.03M 5.50%
NT-INST TRSR-PRM NTPXX $4.66M 4.25%
US TREASURY N/B $1.88M 1.71%
PHI Group Inc COM PHIG $1.42M 1.29%
US TREASURY N/B $1.16M 1.06%
NT-INST TRSR-PRM NTPXX $1.09M 0.99%
US TREASURY N/B $936.66K 0.85%
View all holdings →

Allocation by sector

As of January 30, 2026 · N-PORT
View portfolio breakdown →

Portfolio moves

Oct 31, 2025 → Jan 30, 2026
Opened
10
Exited
20
Increased
3
Decreased
136
Unchanged
58

How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.

View portfolio moves →

Similar funds

Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight
FundOverlapNet exp.
FPA Flexible Fixed Income Fund · FPFIX, FFIAX, FFIRX 24% 0.55%
FPA New Income Fund · FPNIX, FPNRX 24% 0.45%
Inspire Capital Appreciation ETF · RISN 20% 0.72%
View all similar funds →

Advisers

As of April 30, 2025 · N-CEN
FirmRole
Morningstar Investment Management LLC Adviser
First Pacific Advisors, LP Sub-adviser

Footnotes

  1. Expense ratio as of August 26, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
  2. Net assets and holdings count as of January 30, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
  3. Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).

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