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If you have been looking for High Yield - Bonds funds, a place to start could be BlackRock High Yield Bond A (BHYAX - Free Report) . BHYAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
BHYAX is part of the High Yield - Bonds section, which is a segment that boasts many possible options. Often referred to as " junk " bonds, High Yield - Bonds funds sit below investment grade, meaning they are at a high default risk compared to their investment grade peers. However, one advantage to junk bonds is that they generally pay out higher yields while posing similar interest rate risks to their investment grade counterparts.
History of Fund/Manager
BHYAX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The BlackRock High Yield Bond A made its debut in November of 1998 and BHYAX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.11 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.98%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 2.14%, 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. BHYAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 8.37% compared to the category average of 13.11%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 9.52% compared to the category average of 14.16%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
BHYAX carries a beta of 0.21, 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 3.5, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, BHYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 0.95%. From a cost perspective, BHYAX is actually cheaper 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, BlackRock High Yield Bond A ( BHYAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on BHYAXin the High Yield - Bonds 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is BHYAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you have been looking for High Yield - Bonds funds, a place to start could be BlackRock High Yield Bond A (BHYAX - Free Report) . BHYAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
BHYAX is part of the High Yield - Bonds section, which is a segment that boasts many possible options. Often referred to as " junk " bonds, High Yield - Bonds funds sit below investment grade, meaning they are at a high default risk compared to their investment grade peers. However, one advantage to junk bonds is that they generally pay out higher yields while posing similar interest rate risks to their investment grade counterparts.
History of Fund/Manager
BHYAX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The BlackRock High Yield Bond A made its debut in November of 1998 and BHYAX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.11 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.98%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 2.14%, 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. BHYAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 8.37% compared to the category average of 13.11%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 9.52% compared to the category average of 14.16%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
BHYAX carries a beta of 0.21, 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 3.5, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, BHYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 0.95%. From a cost perspective, BHYAX is actually cheaper 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, BlackRock High Yield Bond A ( BHYAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on BHYAXin the High Yield - Bonds 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.