Is BHYSX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is BlackRock High Yield Bond Services (BHYSX). BHYSX carries 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

BHYSX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The BlackRock High Yield Bond Services made its debut in November of 1998 and BHYSX has managed to accumulate roughly $98.45 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.47%, 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 2.7%, which places it in the top 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. Compared to the category average of 13.7%, the standard deviation of BHYSX over the past three years is 9.54%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.9% compared to the category average of 12.05%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.4, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, BHYSX has a positive alpha of 2.57, 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, BHYSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 0.98%. BHYSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $5,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, BlackRock High Yield Bond Services ( BHYSX ) 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.

This could just be the start of your research on BHYSXin 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.

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