AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio
Data updated: 2026-08-26
C000053820 — AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio. Long Total / Aggregate Bond · $3.96B AUM. Holdings, fees, performance and SEC filings.
C000053820 Fund Overview
AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio is a US mutual fund managed by Advanced Series Trust, categorised as Long Total / Aggregate Bond. ABC INVEST provides holdings, performance, costs, cashflows, risk data, prospectus documents and SEC filings, sourced from SEC filings.
- Type: US mutual fund
- Manager: Advanced Series Trust
- Category: Long Total / Aggregate Bond
- Assets under management: $3.96B
- 1-year return: 3.9%
- SEC CIK: 0000814679
- SEC series ID: S000019381
- Share class ID: C000053820
C000053820 Investment Objective and Strategy
AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio describes its objective and strategy as follows, from its latest prospectus filed with the SEC by Advanced Series Trust.
Investment objective
The investment objective of the Portfolio is to seek to maximize total return, consistent with prudent investment management and liquidity needs, by investing to obtain the average duration specified for the Core Fixed Income Portfolio.
Principal investment strategy
In pursuing its investment objective, the Portfolio normally invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings made for investment purposes) in debt and fixed income securities, including mortgage and other asset-backed securities, such as collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), collateralized bond obligations (CBOs), collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and, other collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). The Portfolio may invest up to 20% of its net assets in debt securities that are rated, at the time of purchase, below investment grade but rated at least B-/ B3 or higher by a nationally rated statistical rating organization (NRSRO). Obligations rated BB+/ Ba1 or lower by a NRSRO, or if unrated, considered by the subadviser to be of comparable quality, are considered to be speculative with respect to their capacity to pay interest and principal and are commonly referred to as high-yield debt securities or junk bonds.
The target dollar weighted average effective duration of the Portfolio is expected to range within 30% of the duration of the domestic bond market as a whole (as measured by the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index). The Portfolios dollar weighted average effective duration may fall outside of its expected dollar weighted average effective duration range due to market movements. If this happens, the Portfolios subadviser will take action to bring the Portfolios dollar weighted average effective duration back within its expected dollar weighted average effective duration range within a reasonable period of time. Duration refers to the range within which the dollar weighted average effective duration of the Portfolio is expected to fluctuate. Effective duration measures the expected sensitivity of market price to changes in interest rates, taking into account the effects of structural complexities (for example, some bonds can be prepaid by the issuer).
The duration of the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index was approximately 5.76 years as of January 31, 2026. The Portfolio may invest in other pooled investment vehicles, including other portfolios of the Trust, other open-end or closed-end investment companies, and both active and passive exchange-traded funds (ETFs). In addition to the Portfolio's investment in those underlying pooled investment vehicles, the Portfolio may also invest its assets in the AST PGIM Fixed Income Central Portfolio (the PGIM Central Portfolio). The PGIM Central Portfolio is a special type of investment vehicle for sole use by certain asset allocation portfolios, including the Portfolio. The PGIM Central Portfolio normally invests at least 80% of its assets (net assets plus any borrowings made for investment purposes) in investment grade bonds.
Rather than buy bonds directly, the Portfolio may invest in the PGIM Central Portfolio. The Portfolio may invest in derivatives. The Portfolio may use derivative instruments to hedge its investments or to seek to enhance returns. In addition, the Portfolio may also invest up to 25% of its total assets in the securities of non-US issuers and may invest up to 20% of its total assets in non-US dollar denominated securities. The Portfolio is allocated among four subadvisers: PGIM Fixed Income/PGIM Limited (collectively, PGIM Fixed Income), Wellington Management Company LLP (Wellington Management), and J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc. Further, the Strategic Investment Research Group of the Manager determines the allocation among the subadvisers based on its analysis, taking into account market conditions, risks and other factors.
C000053820 Holdings
Top 10 holdings of AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio by percentage of net assets, from the fund's latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Holding | % of net assets |
|---|---|
| Advanced Series Trust | 5.86% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 2.35% |
| Vanguard Bond Index Funds | 1.98% |
| Ishares Trust | 1.98% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.79% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.72% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.59% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.25% |
| Prudential Investment Portfolios 9 | 1.00% |
| Federal National Mortgage Association | 0.79% |
C000053820 Portfolio Allocation
Asset-class allocation of AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Asset class | Allocation |
|---|---|
| Fixed Income | 48.2% |
| Securitized | 44.2% |
| Equity | 10.1% |
| Cash & Equivalents | 2.0% |
| Real Estate | 0.1% |
| Loans | 0.1% |
C000053820 Performance
Total returns for C000053820 (as of 2026-10-01), from SEC filings.
| Period | Total return |
|---|---|
| YTD | 0.7% |
| 1 year | 3.9% |
| 3 years (annualised) | 4.3% |
| 5 years (annualised) | -0.6% |
C000053820 Risk Information
Risk metrics for C000053820, derived from monthly returns in SEC filings.
- 1-year volatility (annualised): 3.3%
C000053820 Costs and Fees
C000053820 costs about $68 per $10,000 invested per year in fund expenses.
- Net expense ratio: 0.68%
- Gross expense ratio: 0.68%
- Portfolio turnover: 175%
- Brokerage commissions: 0.28 bps of average net assets (SEC N-CEN)
C000053820 Cashflows
Over the 12 months to 2026-06, AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio had net outflows of $243.48M, from monthly SEC N-PORT filings.
| Month | Net flow |
|---|---|
| 2026-06 | $14.76M |
| 2026-05 | −$6.62M |
| 2026-04 | −$5.20M |
| 2026-03 | −$163.90M |
| 2026-02 | −$31.17M |
| 2026-01 | −$32.05M |
C000053820 Debt Constituents
Largest debt holdings of AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.
| Debt holding | % of net assets |
|---|---|
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 2.35% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.79% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.72% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.59% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 1.25% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 0.71% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 0.64% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 0.62% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 0.59% |
| United States Of America - Bureau Of The Public Debt | 0.59% |
C000053820 Prospectus and SEC Filings
Official AST Western Asset Core Plus Bond Portfolio filings on SEC EDGAR — prospectus, portfolio holdings and annual reports.
- Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2026-04-16
- Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2025-04-17
- Prospectus supplement (497) — filed 2024-09-13
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-08-26
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-05-27
- Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2026-02-27
- Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2026-03-13
- Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2025-03-14
Related Funds
Other Long Total / Aggregate Bond funds tracked on ABC INVEST:
Data Sources
ABC INVEST compiles this page from public filings made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through EDGAR: portfolio holdings and monthly cashflows from Form N-PORT, expenses and returns from fund prospectuses (Form 485BPOS) and the SEC DERA Risk/Return Summary data sets, annual data from Form N-CEN, and shareholder reports from Form N-CSR.