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Is ORNAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be Oppenheimer Rochester High Yield Municipals A (ORNAX - Free Report) . ORNAX bears 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

ORNAX is a part of the Invesco family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. Oppenheimer Rochester High Yield Municipals A made its debut in October of 1993, and since then, ORNAX has accumulated about $4.03 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.27%, 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 2.32%, 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. The standard deviation of ORNAX over the past three years is 9.45% compared to the category average of 12.29%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.75% compared to the category average of 10.69%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 1.07, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, ORNAX has a positive alpha of 2.15, 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, ORNAX has 39.86% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.

However, it is worth noting that 35 % 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, ORNAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 0.79%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ORNAX 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, Oppenheimer Rochester High Yield Municipals A ( ORNAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about ORNAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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