If you have been looking for High Yield - Bonds funds, a place to start could be PGIM Floating Rate Income Z (FRFZX Quick QuoteFRFZX - Free Report) . FRFZX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FRFZX is part of the High Yield - Bonds section, which is a segment that boasts many possible options. Often referred to as " junk " bonds, High Yield - Bonds funds sit below investment grade, meaning they are at a high default risk compared to their investment grade peers. However, one advantage to junk bonds is that they generally pay out higher yields while posing similar interest rate risks to their investment grade counterparts.

History of Fund/Manager

PGIM is based in Providence, RI, and is the manager of FRFZX. The PGIM Floating Rate Income Z made its debut in March of 2011 and FRFZX has managed to accumulate roughly $564.62 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.87%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.58%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Compared to the category average of 13.33%, the standard deviation of FRFZX over the past three years is 10.59%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.2% compared to the category average of 10.94%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.22, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FRFZX has a positive alpha of 3.71, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, FRFZX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 84.85%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FRFZX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 1%. So, FRFZX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, PGIM Floating Rate Income Z ( FRFZX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, PGIM Floating Rate Income Z ( FRFZX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the High Yield - Bonds, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.