If you have been looking for Muni - Bonds funds, a place to start could be T. Rowe Price Tax Free Income Adviser (PATAX). PATAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

PATAX is one of many Muni - Bonds funds to choose from. Muni - Bonds funds invest in debt securities issued by states and local municipalities, which are typically used to pay for infrastructure construction, schools, and other government functions. These securities can be backed by taxes (revenue bonds), but others are known as " general obligation " and are not necessarily backed by a defined source. These bonds are especially attractive because of their inherent tax benefits.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PATAX. The T. Rowe Price Tax Free Income Adviser made its debut in October of 1976 and PATAX has managed to accumulate roughly $33 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Timothy Taylor who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2023.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.42%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 1.83%, which places it in the middle 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, PATAX's standard deviation comes in at 7.43%, compared to the category average of 11.91%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.6% compared to the category average of 11.42%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.75, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PATAX has a positive alpha of 0.33, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, PATAX has 51.72% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 35.47% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of A, and focuses on high quality securities.