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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be BlackRock Strategic Municipals Opportunities A (MEMTX - Free Report) . MEMTX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
MEMTX finds itself in the BlackRock family, based out of New York, NY. BlackRock Strategic Municipals Opportunities A debuted in October of 2006. Since then, MEMTX has accumulated assets of about $1.11 billion, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MEMTX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.56% and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.45%, 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 14.27%, the standard deviation of MEMTX over the past three years is 8.53%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 6.73% compared to the category average of 12.49%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.67, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MEMTX has a negative alpha of -0.67, 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, MEMTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, MEMTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 Strategic Municipals Opportunities A ( MEMTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great 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 MEMTX 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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Is MEMTX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be BlackRock Strategic Municipals Opportunities A (MEMTX - Free Report) . MEMTX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
MEMTX finds itself in the BlackRock family, based out of New York, NY. BlackRock Strategic Municipals Opportunities A debuted in October of 2006. Since then, MEMTX has accumulated assets of about $1.11 billion, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MEMTX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.56% and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.45%, 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 14.27%, the standard deviation of MEMTX over the past three years is 8.53%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 6.73% compared to the category average of 12.49%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.67, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MEMTX has a negative alpha of -0.67, 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, MEMTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, MEMTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 Strategic Municipals Opportunities A ( MEMTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great 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 MEMTX 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.