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Is AGDYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with AB High Income Fund Adviser (AGDYX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. AGDYX holds 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

AGDYX finds itself in the AllianceBernstein family, based out of New York, NY. AB High Income Fund Adviser debuted in January of 2008. Since then, AGDYX has accumulated assets of about $1.75 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.02%, 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 -1.44%, 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. The standard deviation of AGDYX over the past three years is 13.88% compared to the category average of 15.81%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 11.09% compared to the category average of 13.76%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 0.2, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, AGDYX has a positive alpha of 0.92, 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, AGDYX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 73.18%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, AGDYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.61% compared to the category average of 0.98%. AGDYX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, AB High Income Fund Adviser ( AGDYX ) 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.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into AGDYX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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