There are plenty of choices in the Muni - Bonds category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is PIMCO High Yield Municipals Bond A (PYMAX Quick QuotePYMAX - Free Report) . PYMAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes PYMAX as Muni - Bonds, which is a segment packed with options. Muni - Bonds funds invest in debt securities issued by states or local municipalities. These are generally used to finance construction of infrastructure, pay for schools, or other government functions. Some are backed by taxes (revenue bonds), while others are " general obligation " and may not be backed by a defined source. Investors usually appreciate the tax benefits that come with many municipal bonds, which are especially impressive for those in high tax brackets.

History of Fund/Manager

PYMAX is a part of the PIMCO Funds family of funds, a company based out of Newport Beach, CA. The PIMCO High Yield Municipals Bond A made its debut in August of 2006 and PYMAX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.28 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. David Hammer is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2015.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.97%, and it sits 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 -0.12%, 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. Over the past three years, PYMAX's standard deviation comes in at 8.87%, compared to the category average of 13.2%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 8.5% compared to the category average of 13.86%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.92, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PYMAX has a positive alpha of 1.36, 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, PYMAX has 37.18% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 32.75% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 29.81%, giving PYMAX an average quality of A. This means that it focuses on high 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, PYMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 0.93%. From a cost perspective, PYMAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that 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, PIMCO High Yield Municipals Bond A ( PYMAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, PIMCO High Yield Municipals Bond A ( PYMAX ) 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 Muni - Bonds, 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.