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Is GHYAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should consider taking a look at Goldman Sachs High Yield Municipals A (GHYAX - Free Report) . GHYAX possesses 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 $452 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.73%, and it sits in the top 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 1.15%, which places it in the top 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. GHYAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 8.64% compared to the category average of 13.38%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.59% compared to the category average of 14%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 1.12, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, GHYAX has a positive alpha of 0.18, 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

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, GHYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 0.77%. From a cost perspective, GHYAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

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

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 strong performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on GHYAXin 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. 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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