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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Principal High Yield A (CPHYX - Free Report) . CPHYX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Principal Financial Group is based in Des Moines, IA, and is the manager of CPHYX. Principal High Yield A debuted in April of 1998. Since then, CPHYX has accumulated assets of about $538.32 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.58%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 6.33%, which places it in the middle 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 13.68%, the standard deviation of CPHYX over the past three years is 8.64%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.94% compared to the category average of 11.24%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.47, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, CPHYX has a positive alpha of 3.81, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, CPHYX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.89% compared to the category average of 1%. From a cost perspective, CPHYX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Principal High Yield A ( CPHYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Principal High Yield A ( CPHYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into CPHYX too for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is CPHYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Principal High Yield A (CPHYX - Free Report) . CPHYX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Principal Financial Group is based in Des Moines, IA, and is the manager of CPHYX. Principal High Yield A debuted in April of 1998. Since then, CPHYX has accumulated assets of about $538.32 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.58%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 6.33%, which places it in the middle 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 13.68%, the standard deviation of CPHYX over the past three years is 8.64%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.94% compared to the category average of 11.24%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.47, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, CPHYX has a positive alpha of 3.81, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, CPHYX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.89% compared to the category average of 1%. From a cost perspective, CPHYX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Principal High Yield A ( CPHYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Principal High Yield A ( CPHYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into CPHYX too for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.