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Is ORNAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be Oppenheimer Rochester High Yield Municipals A (ORNAX - Free Report) . ORNAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ORNAX. Oppenheimer Rochester High Yield Municipals A debuted in October of 1993. Since then, ORNAX has accumulated assets of about $3.62 billion, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.45%, 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 -2.53%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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 12.7%, the standard deviation of ORNAX over the past three years is 9.99%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.04% compared to the category average of 13.49%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

ORNAX carries a beta of 1.31, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 1.16, 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, ORNAX has 26.68% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher. The fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

However, it is worth noting that 42 % 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, ORNAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.30% compared to the category average of 0.78%. From a cost perspective, ORNAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oppenheimer Rochester High Yield Municipals A ( ORNAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Oppenheimer Rochester High Yield Municipals A ( ORNAX ) 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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