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If investors are looking at the Muni - Bonds fund category, American Funds High Income Municipals Bond A (AMHIX) could be a potential option. AMHIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AMHIX is one of many Muni - Bonds funds to choose from. Muni - Bonds funds invest in debt securities issued by states and local municipalities, which are typically used to pay for infrastructure construction, schools, and other government functions. These securities can be backed by taxes (revenue bonds), but others are known as " general obligation " and are not necessarily backed by a defined source. These bonds are especially attractive because of their inherent tax benefits.
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 debuted in September of 1994. Since then, AMHIX has accumulated assets of about $5.18 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. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.19%, and is 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 0.6%, 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. AMHIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 8.68% compared to the category average of 13.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.33% compared to the category average of 13.86%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
AMHIX carries a beta of 0.87, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 1.53, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
However, it is worth noting that 36 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.