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Is AMHIX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A (AMHIX - Free Report) is one possibility. AMHIX has 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

AMHIX finds itself in the American Funds family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A made its debut in September of 1994, and since then, AMHIX has accumulated about $4.85 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. 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. AMHIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.98% 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 -2.01%, 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. The standard deviation of AMHIX over the past three years is 7.75% compared to the category average of 13.02%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 7.71% compared to the category average of 13.85%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 1, meaning that it is volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, AMHIX has a positive alpha of 0.24, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

However, it is worth noting that 35 % 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, AMHIX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.64% compared to the category average of 0.78%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AMHIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should 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, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A ( AMHIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A ( AMHIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on AMHIXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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