Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is GHYAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Goldman Sachs High Yield Municipals A (GHYAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. GHYAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Goldman Sachs is responsible for GHYAX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. The Goldman Sachs High Yield Municipals A made its debut in April of 2000 and GHYAX has managed to accumulate roughly $646.38 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. GHYAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 3.34% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 1.01%, 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. Over the past three years, GHYAX's standard deviation comes in at 8.66%, compared to the category average of 13.77%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.93% compared to the category average of 12.18%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

GHYAX carries a beta of 0.93, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 1.33, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

However, it is worth noting that 36 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.

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, GHYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 0.79%. GHYAX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Goldman Sachs High Yield Municipals A ( GHYAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare GHYAX to its peers as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Goldman Sachs High Yield Muni A (GHYAX) - free report >>

Published in