July 11, 2013

Best Muni California Intermediate Mutual Funds 2013

Discover best Muni California Intermediate mutual funds 2013. These California intermediate municipal bond mutual funds provide tax free income for investors.

Best Muni California Intermediate Mutual Funds 2013 Top Municipal Bond Funds

Municipal California intermediate mutual fund invests mainly in California municipal debts. This fixed income fund provides tax free income from federal taxes and California state taxes. It is attractive to residents of California. It invests in several bond sectors such as general obligation, local municipal, health, education, etc. This municipal California fund has durations of less than 7 years.

From this best mutual funds list, you may find each individual fund review. Check the fund performance, expense ratio, and yield or dividend from the table below. The list is sorted based on fees, yield, fund returns, and potential for growth.

Best Muni California Intermediate Mutual Funds 2013 are:
  1. Vanguard California Intermediate Term Tax Exempt Fund (VCAIX)
  2. Franklin California Intermediate-Term Tax-Free Income Fund (FKCIX)
  3. Schwab California Long Term Tax Free Bond Fund (SWCAX)
  4. Managers California Intermediate Tax Free Fund (MCATX)
  5. Northern California Intermediate Tax-Exempt Fund (NCITX)
  6. Shelton Capital Management California Tax-Free Income Fund (CFNTX)
  7. Columbia California Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund (NACMX)
  8. Western Asset Intermediate Maturity CA Municipals Fund (ITCAX)
  9. SEI Tax-Exempt California Municipal Bond Fund (SBDAX)
  10. American Century California Intermediate-Term Tax-Free Bond Fund (BCIAX)
Updated on July 11, 2013

Vanguard California Intermediate Term Tax Exempt Fund (VCAIX)

Vanguard California Intermediate Term Tax Exempt FundThis best muni California Intermediate mutual fund seeks to provide a higher level of current income than shorter-term bonds. It is intended for California residents only. The interest income is expected to be exempt from both federal and California personal income taxes. This Vanguard California Intermediate Term Tax Exempt fund has total net assets of $7.2 billion. The current fund managers are James M. D’Arcy and Adam M. Ferguson. The annual expense ratio is only 0.20%.

This municipal bond fund is ranked with 4-stars and Silver rating by Morningstar. It has YTD return of -2.35% as of July 3, 2013. Barclays Municipal CA Intermediate Index is the fund’s benchmark. Since the inception in 1994, the fund has recorded 16 years of positive return. The best return was in 2000 with 10.94%. The performance of this fund based on the load adjusted returns is as below:
  • 1-year: 4.92%
  • 3-year: 6.21%
  • 5-year: 6.10%
  • 10-year: 4.31%
This no load bond fund has average maturity of 5.4 years and average duration of 5.2 years. It has a total of 1106 bonds as of May 2013. The annual holdings turnover as of June 16, 2013 is 9.00%. The minimum initial investment for brokerage account is $3,000. But there is no 12b1 fee and no front-end sales load fee.

Franklin California Intermediate-Term Tax-Free Income Fund (FKCIX)

This Franklin fund’s objective is to achieve as high income level exempt from federal income taxes and California personal income taxes as is consistent with prudent investment management and the capital preservation. It uses its total assets to purchase investment grade municipal securities whose interest is exempted from federal income taxes. Christopher Sperry and John Wiley are the current fund managers. It has a high dividend yield of 3.37%. The most recent distribution was given in May 2013 in the amount of $0.03 per share.

Previous: Best Municipal Bond Mutual Funds September 2011

This best municipal California intermediate mutual fund has 5-year average return of 5.87%. The best 1-year total return was recorded in 2009 with 12.34%. Based on the load adjusted returns, the fund has returned 5.35% over the past 3-year and 4.10% over the past 10-year. It also has 3-stars rating from Morningstar. The 3-year beta risk is 1.06. The average duration is 5.21 years. Its average maturity is 8.90 years.

As of May 2013, the top sector breakdowns are General Obligation Bonds (23.00%), Tax Supported Debt (16.00%), Subject to Government Appropriation (15.00%), Utilities (14.00%) and Hospital & Health Care (12.00%).

Schwab California Long Term Tax Free Bond Fund (SWCAX)

Schwab California Long Term Tax Free Bond FundSchwab California Long Term Tax Free Bond Fund is managed by John Shelton and Kenneth Salinger. The fund is looking for high current income exempt from federal and California personal income tax. The fund was first introduced to the public in February 1992. It has total net assets of $455.6 million. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.49%.

As part of best municipal California intermediate mutual funds, it uses Barclays Municipal California Exempt TR as its benchmark. It has its best 1-year total return in year 2000 with 15.19%. The worst return was occurred in 1999 with -6.09%. This municipal bond fund is ranked with 4-stars rating by Morningstar analysts. It has YTD return of -2.27% as of July 3, 2013.

The top holdings of this SWCAX fund as of May 2013 are Los Angeles CA 5% (1.48%), Met Wtr Dist of Southern California (1.38%) and California St Hsg Fin Average Revenue (1.31%). The top sectors are General Obligation (28.0%), Miscellaneous Revenue (20.3%), Health (14.1%) and Water/ Sewer (12.3%).

Fund Information


NoFund DescriptionTickerRatingExpense RatioYield Net Assets (mil) Min to Invest
1Vanguard CA Interm-Term Tax-Exempt InvVCAIX40.20%3.31%$7,200 $3,000
2Franklin CA Interm-Term Tx-Fr Income AFKCIX30.64%3.27%$1,200 $1,000
3Schwab CA Tax-Free BondSWCAX40.49%2.52%$456 $100
4Managers CA Intermediate Tax-FreeMCATX40.55%3.53%$29 $2,000
5Northern CA Intermediate Tax-ExemptNCITX30.45%2.99%$403 $2,500
6Shelton California Tax-Free IncomeCFNTX40.72%3.41%$103 $1,000
7Columbia California Interm Muni Bd ANACMX20.73%3.13%$299 $2,000
8Western Asset Interm Maturity CA Muni AITCAX30.75%3.16%$208 $1,000
9SEI Tax-Exempt CA Municipal Bond ASBDAX30.61%2.64%$204 $100,000
10American Century CA Interm-T T-Fr Bd ABCIAX20.72%2.33%$1,300 $5,000

Municipal Bond Fund Performance

NoFund DescriptionYTD Return1-Year Return %3-Year Return %5-Year Return %10-Year Return %
1Vanguard CA Interm-Term Tax-Exempt Inv-2.35%0.56%4.44%4.67%3.72%
2Franklin CA Interm-Term Tx-Fr Income A-2.16%0.55%4.51%4.60%3.83%
3Schwab CA Tax-Free Bond-2.27%0.27%4.09%4.45%3.90%
4Managers CA Intermediate Tax-Free-1.30%1.44%4.49%4.44%3.92%
5Northern CA Intermediate Tax-Exempt-3.53%-0.52%3.83%4.26%3.41%
6Shelton California Tax-Free Income-1.87%0.62%4.05%4.23%3.27%
7Columbia California Interm Muni Bd A-2.80%0.00%4.10%4.78%3.55%
8Western Asset Interm Maturity CA Muni A-2.40%0.02%3.68%3.80%3.51%
9SEI Tax-Exempt CA Municipal Bond A-2.69%-0.74%3.50%4.43%3.57%
10American Century CA Interm-T T-Fr Bd A-2.28%-0.11%3.91%4.46%3.45%

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Importance of Diversification in Investing

Diversification is a key principle in investing, and it's especially important in today's uncertain economic climate. By spreading y...