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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A (AMHIX - Free Report) could be a potential option. AMHIX 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
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of AMHIX. American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A made its debut in September of 1994, and since then, AMHIX has accumulated about $6.02 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. AMHIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.96% and it sits 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 1.47%, 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 AMHIX over the past three years is 7.28% compared to the category average of 13.22%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.83% compared to the category average of 11.59%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
AMHIX carries a beta of 0.8, 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 1.02, 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, AMHIX has 33.68% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 21.25%, giving AMHIX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
However, it is worth noting that 30 % 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, AMHIX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.79%. AMHIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A ( AMHIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A ( AMHIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about AMHIX? 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is AMHIX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A (AMHIX - Free Report) could be a potential option. AMHIX 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
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of AMHIX. American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A made its debut in September of 1994, and since then, AMHIX has accumulated about $6.02 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. AMHIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.96% and it sits 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 1.47%, 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 AMHIX over the past three years is 7.28% compared to the category average of 13.22%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.83% compared to the category average of 11.59%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
AMHIX carries a beta of 0.8, 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 1.02, 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, AMHIX has 33.68% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 21.25%, giving AMHIX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
However, it is worth noting that 30 % 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, AMHIX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.79%. AMHIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A ( AMHIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A ( AMHIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about AMHIX? 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.