Fund Evaluator:

Western Asset Municipal High Income A Overview

Western Asset Municipal High Income A (STXAX) is an actively managed Municipal Bond High Yield Muni fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 1992.

The investment seeks to maximize current income exempt from regular federal income tax. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its assets in "municipal securities." It will invest primarily in municipal securities rated at the time of purchase in the lowest investment grade categories (that is, securities rated in the Baa/BBB categories) or rated below investment grade (that is, securities rated below the Baa/BBB categories) or, if unrated, determined by the sub-adviser to be of comparable credit quality.

About Western Asset Municipal High Income A (STXAX)

There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.60 years: Ryan Brist (2024), John Mooney (2023), David Fare (2006), Michael Buchanan (2024), Robert Amodeo (2007). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: Bloomberg Municipal TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Western Asset Municipal High Income A has 208 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 23.0% 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.

Western Asset Municipal High Income A is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Municipal Bond fund group. Western Asset Municipal High Income A has 5.9% 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 100.0% (94.1% domestic bond, 5.9% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Western Asset Municipal High Income A has 0.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $159 million in total assets, which is below the $803 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.

STXAX 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 Western Asset Municipal High Income A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the High Yield Muni category. Western Asset Municipal High Income A has an expense ratio of 0.82%, which is 16% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. Western Asset Municipal High Income A has a portfolio turnover rate of 12%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 51% for the High Yield Muni category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Western Asset Municipal High Income A returned -2.0%, which earned it a grade of D, as the High Yield Muni category had an average return of -1.8%. 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.

Western Asset Municipal High Income A has a trailing yield of 3.85%, which is below the 4.46% 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.

Western Asset Municipal High Income A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 1.2%, 0.4 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 7.1% over the past year (grade of C), 3.9% over the past three years (grade of D) and 0.7% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 2.2% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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