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Is ABHYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund could think about starting with American Century High Yield Municipals Investor (ABHYX - Free Report) . ABHYX holds 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 Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ABHYX. The American Century High Yield Municipals Investor made its debut in March of 1998 and ABHYX has managed to accumulate roughly $282.26 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Joseph Gotelli who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2012.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.07%, 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 1.62%, 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 ABHYX over the past three years is 8.29% compared to the category average of 13.72%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.57% compared to the category average of 11.93%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

ABHYX 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 1.1, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

However, it is worth noting that 40 % 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, ABHYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.59% compared to the category average of 0.79%. From a cost perspective, ABHYX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Century High Yield Municipals Investor ( ABHYX ) 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.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare ABHYX to its peers as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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