If you have been looking for Muni – Bonds funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Nuveen High Yield Municipals Bond A (NHMAX). NHMAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
We classify NHMAX in the Muni – Bonds category, an area rife with potential choices. Muni – Bonds funds focus their investments on debt securities issued by state and local governments. These are typically used to pay for the construction of infrastructure, the operation of public schools, and other municipal functions. These securities can come in the form of revenue bonds, which are backed by taxes, as well as ” general obligation ” bonds that are not backed by a defined source. Investors are usually interested that come with most municipal bonds, which can be especially important for those in higher tax brackets.
NHMAX is a part of the Nuveen family of funds, a company based out of Chicago, IL. Nuveen High Yield Municipals Bond A made its debut in June of 1999, and since then, NHMAX has accumulated about $6.28 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Stephen Candido is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since April of 2023.
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 0.56%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.13%, which places it in the bottom 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. Compared to the category average of 13%, the standard deviation of NHMAX over the past three years is 12.38%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund’s standard deviation is 12.16% compared to the category average of 13.71%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.97, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, NHMAX has a positive alpha of 1.48, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
