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Is MEMTX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? BlackRock Strategic Municipals Opportunities A (MEMTX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. MEMTX carries 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

BlackRock is responsible for MEMTX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. Since BlackRock Strategic Municipals Opportunities A made its debut in October of 2006, MEMTX has garnered more than $1.41 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.5%, 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 -0.72%, 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. Compared to the category average of 12.63%, the standard deviation of MEMTX over the past three years is 7.65%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 6.08% compared to the category average of 11.15%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.6, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MEMTX has a negative alpha of -0.4, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, MEMTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.76% compared to the category average of 0.79%. From a cost perspective, MEMTX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, BlackRock Strategic Municipals Opportunities A ( MEMTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on MEMTXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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.


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