Best-Performing Bond Mutual Funds

Corporate high-yield bond funds garnered the best returns during the month of April.
By Kevin Baker ,

We reviewed some of the best-performing open-end bond mutual funds for the month of April. These funds were standouts in their categories, which are ranked by the average one-month total return for each group.

Of the 18 different types of fixed-income funds listed below, "corporate - high yield" bond funds top the list, averaging a one month return of 3.07% for the 151 similarly targeted funds.

The best-performing member of this group is the E- rated

Oppenheimer Champion Income A Fund

(OPCHX)

that gained 8.24% in April. The fund has a net expense ratio of 0.99%.

The first and third largest holdings, at 3.9% and 2.7% of assets, are in two year and 10 year US Treasury futures. Corporate debt holdings from

Sprint Nextel

(S) - Get Report

,

Fannie Mae

(FNM)

,

HBOS

(HBOOY)

and

HSBC Fin Cap Trust IX

(HBC)

are also top holdings of Oppenheimer Champion Income.

The set of 33 loan participation bond funds ranked second averaging 2.68% in April. Representing the best of this group, the E rated

Van Kampen Senior Loan Fund

(VSLAX) - Get Report

returned 4.14% for the period. The top security holdings include

Tribune Company

(TXA)

,

Univision Communications

,

Charter Communications

(CHTR) - Get Report

,

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios

(MGM) - Get Report

and Harrah's Entertainment.

Unlike the two funds noted above that have lost money over the last year, the B+ rated

TCW Emerging Mkt Income N Fund

(TGINX) - Get Report

has consistently generated respectable positive returns.

At year's end, the fund was invested in at least 20 different countries with Mexico at 12.9%, Brazil at 10.8%, Russia at 10%, Kazakhstan at 7.7% and Indonesia at 6.8% being the largest concentrations. The fund is managed by Luz Padilla, who has been with TCW Funds since 1994.

For an explanation of our ratings,

click here

.

Kevin Baker became the senior financial analyst for TSC Ratings upon the August 2006 acquisition of Weiss Ratings by TheStreet.com, covering mutual funds. He joined the Weiss Group in 1997 as a banking and brokerage analyst. In 1999, he created the Weiss Group's first ratings to gauge the level of risk in U.S. equities. Baker received a B.S. degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. with a finance specialization from Nova Southeastern University.

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