Fund Evaluator:

American Funds American High-Inc R-5 Overview

American Funds American High-Inc R-5 (RITFX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond High Yield Bond fund. Capital Group launched the fund in 2002.

The investment seeks to provide a high level of current income; the secondary investment objective is capital appreciation. The fund invests primarily in higher yielding and generally lower quality debt securities (rated Ba1 / BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations or unrated but determined by the fund's investment adviser to be of equivalent quality), including corporate loan obligations. It may also invest a portion of its assets in securities tied economically to countries outside the United States.

About American Funds American High-Inc R-5 (RITFX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 11.42 years: Thomas Chow (2014), David Daigle (2003), Shannon Ward (2016), Andy Moth (2024). 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 Bloomberg US HY 2% Issuer Cap TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. American Funds American High-Inc R-5 has 1086 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 7.7% 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 Funds American High-Inc R-5 is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. American Funds American High-Inc R-5 has 10.1% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 3.2%. There is 0.3% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.4% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 85.9% (76.1% domestic bond, 9.9% foreign bond and 0.2% convertible bond). American Funds American High-Inc R-5 has 9.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $31 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.

RITFX 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 Funds American High-Inc R-5 expense ratio is average compared to funds in the High Yield Bond category. American Funds American High-Inc R-5 has an expense ratio of 0.42%, which is 54% 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 Funds American High-Inc R-5 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 72% for the High Yield Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, American Funds American High-Inc R-5 returned -0.6%, which earned it a grade of F, 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 Funds American High-Inc R-5 has a trailing yield of 6.70%, 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 Funds American High-Inc R-5 Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 1.7%, 0.1 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 5.4% over the past year (grade of B), 8.8% over the past three years (grade of A) and 4.8% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 6.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).

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