Fund Evaluator:

Northern High Yield Fixed Income Overview

Northern High Yield Fixed Income (NHFIX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond High Yield Bond fund. Northern Funds launched the fund in 1998.

The investment seeks a high level of current income. The fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in lower quality bonds and other fixed-income securities (commonly referred to as "junk bonds"). Lower quality or below-investment grade securities are rated BB, Ba or lower by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”), or unrated securities determined to be of comparable quality by the fund’s investment adviser.

About Northern High Yield Fixed Income (NHFIX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.60 years: Ben McCubbin (2024), Sau Mui (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Universal TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg US HY 2% Issuer Cap TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Northern High Yield Fixed Income has 567 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 15.1% 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.

Northern High Yield Fixed Income is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Northern High Yield Fixed Income has 14.7% 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 0.7% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 102.0% (87.4% domestic bond, 14.7% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Northern High Yield Fixed Income has -2.8% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $2 billion in total assets, which is above 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.

NHFIX 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 Northern High Yield Fixed Income expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the High Yield Bond category. Northern High Yield Fixed Income has an expense ratio of 0.61%, which is 34% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. 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. Northern High Yield Fixed Income has a portfolio turnover rate of 40%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 71% for the High Yield Bond category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Northern High Yield Fixed Income returned 0.2%, which earned it a grade of C, as the High Yield Bond category had an average return of 0.2%. 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.

Northern High Yield Fixed Income has a trailing yield of 6.98%, which is above the 6.26% 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.

Northern High Yield Fixed Income Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 2.0%, 0.0 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 6.3% over the past year (grade of B), 9.0% over the past three years (grade of A) and 4.1% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 5.7% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).

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