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Is USHYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Bond funds, you might want to consider passing on by USAA High Income (USHYX - Free Report) as a possibility. USHYX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Victory is responsible for USHYX, and the company is based out of Columbus, OH. USAA High Income made its debut in August of 1999, and since then, USHYX has accumulated about $737.66 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.05%, and is in the bottom 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 -0.49%, which places it in the middle 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, USHYX's standard deviation comes in at 12.65%, compared to the category average of 15.2%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.25% compared to the category average of 13.15%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.23, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, USHYX has a positive alpha of 1.8, 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, USHYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 0.98%. So, USHYX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, USAA High Income ( USHYX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on USHYXin 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


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