Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Ivy High Income A (WHIAX) at this time. WHIAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Delaware Investments is based in Philadelphia, PA, and is the manager of WHIAX. Ivy High Income A debuted in September of 2003. Since then, WHIAX has accumulated assets of about $1.20 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, John McCarthy, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2021.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.54%, and it sits in the bottom 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 -1.37%, which places it in the bottom 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 15.97%, the standard deviation of WHIAX over the past three years is 12.82%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.34% compared to the category average of 13.83%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of -0.05, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, WHIAX has a positive alpha of 0.5, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
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, WHIAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.01% compared to the category average of 0.98%. So, WHIAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Ivy High Income A ( WHIAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
