Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should consider taking a look at BlackRock High Yield Bond A (BHYAX). BHYAX has 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
BlackRock is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of BHYAX. Since BlackRock High Yield Bond A made its debut in November of 1998, BHYAX has garnered more than $1.11 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.43%, and is in the top 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 0.98%, 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 16.11%, the standard deviation of BHYAX over the past three years is 11.64%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.56% compared to the category average of 14.06%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.07, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, BHYAX has a positive alpha of 2.11, 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 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.98%. BHYAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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, 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, BlackRock High Yield Bond A ( BHYAX ) 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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