Fund Evaluator:

Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M Overview

Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M (RHYTX) is an actively managed Municipal Bond High Yield Muni fund. Russell launched the fund in 2017.

The investment seeks to provide a high level of current income that is exempt from federal tax, and as a secondary objective, total return. The fund invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in fixed income investments the income from which is exempt from federal income tax. It invests principally in municipal debt obligations providing federal tax-exempt interest income, but may invest up to 20% of the value of its net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes in municipal debt securities, the income on which is subject to federal income tax, including the alternative minimum tax.

About Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M (RHYTX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.45 years: Brian Pringle (2025), Riti Samanta (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 3 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg Municipal TR USD index with a weighting of 100%, Bloomberg Municipal Bond HY TR USD index with a weighting of 60% and Bloomberg Municipal TR USD index with a weighting of 40%. Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M has 3109 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 6.3% 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.

Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Municipal Bond fund group. Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M has 8.3% 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 96.6% (88.3% domestic bond, 8.3% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M has 3.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $751 million in total assets, which is below the $816 million average for the High Yield Muni 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.

RHYTX 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 Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M expense ratio is average compared to funds in the High Yield Muni category. Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M has an expense ratio of 0.54%, which is 45% 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. Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M has a portfolio turnover rate of 22%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 50% for the High Yield Muni category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M returned 1.5%, which earned it a grade of A, as the High Yield Muni category had an average return of 1.2%. 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.

Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M has a trailing yield of 4.57%, which is above the 4.36% 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.

Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 3.8%, 0.4 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 7.5% over the past year (grade of D), 4.9% over the past three years (grade of C) and 1.0% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 3.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).

For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about Russell Inv Tax-Exempt High Yield Bd M, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.