Any investors hoping to find a High Yield - Bonds fund could think about starting with American Funds High Income Trust A (AHITX Quick QuoteAHITX - Free Report) . AHITX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

AHITX 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

American Funds is responsible for AHITX, and the company is based out of Los Angeles, CA. American Funds High Income Trust A debuted in February of 1988. Since then, AHITX has accumulated assets of about $11.17 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.99%, 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 6.62%, 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 13.39%, the standard deviation of AHITX over the past three years is 7.48%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 6.91% compared to the category average of 13.08%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

AHITX 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 7.28, 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, AHITX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AHITX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $250 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50

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

Bottom Line

Overall, American Funds High Income Trust A ( AHITX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better 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 AHITXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.