Any investors hoping to find a High Yield – Bonds fund could think about starting with American Funds High Income Trust A (AHITX). AHITX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

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AHITX is classified in the High Yield – Bonds segment by Zacks, an area full of investment possibilities. High Yield – Bonds funds come in below investment grade, and are referred to as ” junk ” bonds for this reason. Compared to their investment grade peers, these funds are at a higher default risk, but typically pay out higher yields while posing similar interest rate risks.

American Funds is responsible for AHITX, and the company is based out of Los Angeles, CA. Since American Funds High Income Trust A made its debut in February of 1988, AHITX has garnered more than $11.17 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund’s current manager.

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. AHITX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.77% 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 4.19%, 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.

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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. Over the past three years, AHITX’s standard deviation comes in at 7.92%, compared to the category average of 13.84%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund’s standard deviation is 9.05% compared to the category average of 14.84%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.21, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, AHITX has a positive alpha of 5.6, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, AHITX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 0.95%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AHITX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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