If investors are looking at the High Yield - Bonds fund category, BlackRock High Yield Bond Services (BHYSX Quick QuoteBHYSX - Free Report) could be a potential option. BHYSX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

BHYSX is part of the High Yield - Bonds section, which is a segment that boasts many possible options. Often referred to as " junk " bonds, High Yield - Bonds funds sit below investment grade, meaning they are at a high default risk compared to their investment grade peers. However, one advantage to junk bonds is that they generally pay out higher yields while posing similar interest rate risks to their investment grade counterparts.

History of Fund/Manager

BHYSX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. BlackRock High Yield Bond Services made its debut in November of 1998, and since then, BHYSX has accumulated about $85.88 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Mitchell Garfin is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2009.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. BHYSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 3.67% 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 1.89%, 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.

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. The standard deviation of BHYSX over the past three years is 8.34% compared to the category average of 13.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.45% compared to the category average of 14.17%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 0.19, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, BHYSX has a positive alpha of 3.77, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, BHYSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.84% compared to the category average of 0.95%. BHYSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $5,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

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.

For additional information on the High Yield - Bonds 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 BHYSX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.