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Is GHYAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Goldman Sachs High Yield Municipals A (GHYAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. GHYAX 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

GHYAX is a part of the Goldman Sachs family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. Goldman Sachs High Yield Municipals A debuted in April of 2000. Since then, GHYAX has accumulated assets of about $443.66 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.84%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.4%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.5%, the standard deviation of GHYAX over the past three years is 9.59%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.46% compared to the category average of 14.08%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 1.15, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, GHYAX has a negative alpha of -0.08, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

However, it is worth noting that 41 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.

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, GHYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.86% compared to the category average of 0.94%. So, GHYAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare GHYAX to its peers as well 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.


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