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Is ACTDX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Bond funds, consider Invesco High Yield Municipals Y (ACTDX - Free Report) as a possibility. ACTDX 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

Invesco is responsible for ACTDX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. Since Invesco High Yield Municipals Y made its debut in March of 2006, ACTDX has garnered more than $2.04 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.41%, and it sits in the middle 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 -1.58%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.17%, the standard deviation of ACTDX over the past three years is 10.59%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.42% compared to the category average of 13.17%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

ACTDX carries a beta of 0.92, 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 0.08, 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, ACTDX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 22.2%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

However, it is worth noting that 53 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.

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, ACTDX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, ACTDX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Invesco High Yield Municipals Y ( ACTDX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Bond, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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