Is ECMMX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund might consider looking past Eaton Vance MA Municipals C (ECMMX). ECMMX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Eaton Vance is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of ECMMX. The Eaton Vance MA Municipals C made its debut in July of 2006 and ECMMX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.30 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Craig Brandon, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2010.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.18%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of -2.77%, 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. Over the past three years, ECMMX's standard deviation comes in at 7.41%, compared to the category average of 11.86%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.41% compared to the category average of 12.13%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
ECMMX carries a beta of 0.99, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -1.81, 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, ECMMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.45% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, ECMMX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Eaton Vance MA Municipals C ( ECMMX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and higher fees, Eaton Vance MA Municipals C ( ECMMX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into ECMMX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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