Lord Abbett Intermediate Tax Free A (LISAX) Fund

One of the income producing mutual funds is municipal bond mutual fund or muni bond mutual fund. This municipal bond mutual fund provides regular income which is exempted from federal income tax. Some of these muni bond funds also provide tax free income from state tax. One of the popular choices is Lord Abbett Intermediate Tax Free fund. More fund review can be found below.

Lord Abbett Intermediate Tax Free A (LISAX)

The Lord Abbett Intermediate Tax Free fund objective is to seek the maximum amount of interest income exempt from federal income tax as is consistent with sound risk. This bond mutual fund uses its net assets to purchase municipal bonds issued by states, territories, and possessions of the U.S. (including the District of Columbia). The interest from this municipal debt is typically not taxed from federal personal income tax (i.e. tax free).

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: June 30, 2003
• Ticker Symbol: LISAX
• CUSIP: 543912604
• Beta (3yr): 0.94
• Rank in category (YTD): 39%
• Category: Muni National Interm
• Distribution Rate: 3.44%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.64%  
• Net Assets: $ 3.05 billion
• Number of Years Up: 7 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Annual Turnover Rate: 38.81%

Updated on 5/12/2012

Lord Abbett Intermediate Tax Free

Daniel S. Solender has been managing this investment fund since December 2006. As part of Muni National Interm fund, it has an expense ratio of 0.64% while the category average is 0.83%. The 12b1 fee is 0.20%. It also has a dividend yield of 3.44%. The most recent distribution was given in February 2012 ($0.03). The fund has annual holdings turnover of 38.81% as of March 13, 2012. He started managing this fund in December 2006. It has total net assets of $3.05 billion. The maximum sales charge for investing in this top muni bond fund is 2.25%.

Ranked with 4 stars by Morningstar, this best municipal bond mutual fund has YTD return of 2.13%. It has its best total return in year 2009 within 7 years of the positive achievement. The only year when it had negative return was in 2008 with -0.39%. Based on the load adjusted return, the performance of the fund was as follow:

• 1-year: 8.85%
• 3-year: 6.73%
• 5-year: 5.39%
• 10-year: N/A

The minimum initial investment is $1,000 for brokerage account. The fund has no minimum subsequent investment. The investors can buy this muni bond mutual fund through 69 brokerages. They are Edward Jones, Merrill Lynch, Scottrade Load, JP Morgan, Fidelity Retail Funds Network, Schwab Retail, Morgan Stanley Advisors, Pershing Fund Center, etc. The other classes of this muni bond mutual fund are Class C (LISCX), Class F (LISFX), and Class I (LAIIX).

Top High Yield Municipal Bond Mutual Funds 2012

The top portfolio sectors as of February 2012 are Insured (16.7%), Healthcare/ Hospital (12.1%), Transportation (10.6%), IDR/ PCR (8.8%) and GO Local (7.7%). The ten largest issues as of February 2012 are California state General Obligation, NH Health & Education – University of NH, Port of Seattle, Maine Municipal Bond Bank, Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Authority, California Department of Water Resources, Pennsylvania Economic Dev – PPL Electric Utility, San Francisco International Airport, New York Dormitory Authority – Personal Income Tax and Essex County Improvement Authority. These ten issues represent 7.0% of the total net assets.

Principal investment risks of this Lord Abbett fund include Portfolio management risk, Below Investment Grade Municipal Bond Risk, Call Risk, Concentration Risk, Credit Risk, Derivatives Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Liquidity Risk, etc.

Pros and Cons

Good:

• Good long term performance
• Manager has been managing since 2006

Bad:

• Class A has a sales load

Disclosure: No Position

Other municipal bond mutual funds posts:

• Fidelity Intermediate Municipal Income Fund
• Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio 3 Fund