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Is ACTHX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Invesco High Yield Municipals A (ACTHX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. ACTHX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ACTHX. Invesco High Yield Municipals A debuted in January of 1986. Since then, ACTHX has accumulated assets of about $4.86 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.34%, and it sits 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 -3.17%, which places it in the bottom 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. ACTHX's standard deviation over the past three years is 10.83% compared to the category average of 15.73%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 8.71% compared to the category average of 13.7%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.73, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, ACTHX has a negative alpha of -0.29, 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, ACTHX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 22.05%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

However, it is worth noting that 55 % 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, ACTHX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.17% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ACTHX is actually more expensive than its peers.

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, Invesco High Yield Municipals A ( ACTHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Invesco High Yield Municipals A ( ACTHX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.


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