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Is SEKSX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, it would not be wise to start your search with AI Kansas Tax-Exempt Bond I (SEKSX - Free Report) . SEKSX holds 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

SEKSX finds itself in the AIF family, based out of New York, NY. AI Kansas Tax-Exempt Bond I made its debut in December of 1990, and since then, SEKSX has accumulated about $168.66 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Neil Klein, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2016.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.63%, and is in the middle 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 -0.74%, 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 9.5%, the standard deviation of SEKSX over the past three years is 4.49%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 3.63% compared to the category average of 8.37%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

SEKSX carries a beta of 0.75, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -0.8, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, SEKSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.48% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, SEKSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3 million and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $5,000.

Bottom Line

Overall, AI Kansas Tax-Exempt Bond I ( SEKSX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, AI Kansas Tax-Exempt Bond I ( SEKSX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on SEKSXin the Mutual Fund Bond 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. 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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