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Muni - Bonds fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Intermediate Municipals Income (FLTMX). FLTMX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FLTMX 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.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FLTMX. Fidelity Intermediate Municipals Income made its debut in April of 1977, and since then, FLTMX has accumulated about $4.31 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.25%, and it sits in the top 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 0.18%, 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. Over the past three years, FLTMX's standard deviation comes in at 5.62%, compared to the category average of 12.96%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 5.1% compared to the category average of 13.57%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
FLTMX carries a beta of 0.62, 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 -0.11, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.