In This Article:
Having trouble finding a Muni - Bonds fund? American Century CA High Yield Municipals A (CAYAX) is a potential starting point. CAYAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes CAYAX as Muni - Bonds, which is a segment packed with options. Muni - Bonds funds invest in debt securities issued by states or local municipalities. These are generally used to finance construction of infrastructure, pay for schools, or other government functions. Some are backed by taxes (revenue bonds), while others are " general obligation " and may not be backed by a defined source. Investors usually appreciate the tax benefits that come with many municipal bonds, which are especially impressive for those in high tax brackets.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is responsible for CAYAX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century CA High Yield Municipals A debuted in January of 2003. Since then, CAYAX has accumulated assets of about $48.41 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Joseph Gotelli who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2012.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.75%, and it sits in the middle 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 1.69%, which places it in the middle 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.
Advertisement: High Yield Savings Offers
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 13.06%, the standard deviation of CAYAX over the past three years is 8.73%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.7% compared to the category average of 13.66%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
CAYAX carries a beta of 0.83, 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 0.94, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.