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Is CXHYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Delaware National High Yield Municipals A (CXHYX - Free Report) could be a potential option. CXHYX carries 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

CXHYX is a part of the Delaware Investments family of funds, a company based out of Philadelphia, PA. Delaware National High Yield Municipals A debuted in September of 1986. Since then, CXHYX has accumulated assets of about $621.26 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

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 2.22%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.06%, which places it in the middle 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, CXHYX's standard deviation comes in at 10.99%, compared to the category average of 12.42%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.76% compared to the category average of 12.91%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 1.29, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, CXHYX has a positive alpha of 0.34, 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, CXHYX has 15.87% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

However, it is worth noting that 49 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.

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, CXHYX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 0.92%. So, CXHYX is actually cheaper 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.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Delaware National High Yield Municipals A ( CXHYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Delaware National High Yield Municipals A ( CXHYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mutual Fund Bond segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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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