INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of Federated Total
Return Series, Inc.:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of Federated Total Return Series, Inc. (the "Corporation")
(including Federated Limited Duration Fund, Federated Mortgage
Fund, Federated Total Return Bond Fund, and Federated Ultrashort
Bond Fund) for the year ended September 30, 2000, (on which we
have issued our report dated November 13, 2000), we considered
its internal control, including control activities for
safeguarding securities, in order to determine our auditing
procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the
financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form
N-SAR, and not to provide assurance on the Corporation's internal
control.
The management of the Corporation is responsible for establishing
and maintaining internal control. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are
required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of
controls. Generally, controls that are relevant to an audit
pertain to the entity's objective of preparing financial
statements for external purposes that are fairly presented in
conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America. Those controls include the
safeguarding of assets against unauthorized acquisition, use, or
disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control,
misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be
detected. Also, projections of any evaluation of internal
control to future periods are subject to the risk that the
internal control may become inadequate because of changes in
conditions or that the degree of compliance with policies or
procedures may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the Corporation's internal control would not
necessarily disclose all matters in internal control that might
be material weaknesses under standards established by the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A material
weakness is a condition in which the design or operation of one
or more of the internal control components does not reduce to a
relatively low level the risk that misstatements due to error or
fraud in amounts that would be material in relation to the
financial statements being audited may occur and not be detected
within a timely period by employees in the normal course of
performing their assigned functions. However, we noted no
matters involving the Corporation's internal control and its
operation, including controls for safeguarding securities, that
we consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of
September 30, 2000.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management, the Trustees and Shareholders of Federated Total
Return Series, Inc., and the Securities and Exchange Commission
and is not intended to be, and should not, be used by anyone
other than these specified parties.
November 13, 2000
