Is BHYAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Bond funds, consider BlackRock High Yield Bond A (BHYAX) as a possibility. BHYAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

BlackRock is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of BHYAX. The BlackRock High Yield Bond A made its debut in November of 1998 and BHYAX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.16 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 2.3%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.61%, 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. BHYAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 11.03% compared to the category average of 14.88%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.08% compared to the category average of 13.08%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.39, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, BHYAX has a positive alpha of 2.05, 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, BHYAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, BHYAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, BlackRock High Yield Bond A ( BHYAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund 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 BHYAX to its peers as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.

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