Fund Evaluator:

American Century High-Yield R5 Overview

American Century High-Yield R5 (ACYIX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond High Yield Bond fund. American Century Investments launched the fund in 2004.

The investment seeks high current income; capital appreciation is the secondary objective. The portfolio managers will maintain at least 80% of the fund's net assets in high-yield corporate bonds and other debt instruments. The remaining assets may be invested in common stocks or other equity-related securities. Up to 40% of the fund's total assets may be invested in fixed-income obligations of foreign issuers. It may invest up to 20% of its assets in short-term money market instruments and U.S. government securities. The fund has no average maturity limitations, but it typically invests in intermediate-term and long-term debt securities.

About American Century High-Yield R5 (ACYIX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.15 years: Charles Tan (2019), Muting Ren (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and ICE BofA US HY Constnd TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. American Century High-Yield R5 has 311 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 7.5% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

American Century High-Yield R5 is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. American Century High-Yield R5 has 12.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 95.7% (83.4% domestic bond, 12.3% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). American Century High-Yield R5 has 4.3% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $47 million in total assets, which is below the $545 million average for the High Yield Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

ACYIX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The American Century High-Yield R5 expense ratio is average compared to funds in the High Yield Bond category. American Century High-Yield R5 has an expense ratio of 0.50%, which is 46% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. American Century High-Yield R5 has a portfolio turnover rate of 116%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 72% for the High Yield Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, American Century High-Yield R5 returned 0.0%, which earned it a grade of A, as the High Yield Bond category had an average return of -0.3%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

American Century High-Yield R5 has a trailing yield of 6.63%, which is above the 6.28% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

American Century High-Yield R5 Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 2.8%, 1.1 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 6.8% over the past year (grade of A), 7.7% over the past three years (grade of C) and 3.3% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 4.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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