Is Artisan High Income Fund Investor Shares (ARTFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

ARTFX

If you've been stuck searching for Index funds, consider Artisan High Income Fund Investor Shares (ARTFX - Free Report) as a possibility. ARTFX carries 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

Artisan Funds is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of ARTFX. Since Artisan High Income Fund Investor Shares made its debut in March of 2014, ARTFX has garnered more than $1.51 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Bryan Krug, has been in charge of the fund since March of 2014.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.54%, and it sits 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 7.66%, 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. Over the past three years, ARTFX's standard deviation comes in at 10.25%, compared to the category average of 13.11%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 8.01% compared to the category average of 10.75%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.39, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a positive alpha of 5.91, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, ARTFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 0.79%. ARTFX 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 has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Artisan High Income Fund Investor Shares ( ARTFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Artisan High Income Fund Investor Shares ( ARTFX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Index 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.

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