There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Bond category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Principal High Yield A (CPHYX). CPHYX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.History of Fund/ManagerPrincipal Financial Group is based in Des Moines, IA, and is the manager of CPHYX. Principal High Yield A debuted in April of 1998. Since then, CPHYX has accumulated assets of about $538.32 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.PerformanceObviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.58%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 6.33%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Compared to the category average of 13.68%, the standard deviation of CPHYX over the past three years is 8.64%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.94% compared to the category average of 11.24%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.With a beta of 0.47, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, CPHYX has a positive alpha of 3.81, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.ExpensesAs competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, CPHYX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.89% compared to the category average of 1%. From a cost perspective, CPHYX is actually cheaper than its peers.Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.Bottom LineOverall, Principal High Yield A ( CPHYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Principal High Yield A ( CPHYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.For additional information on the Mutual Fund Bond area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into CPHYX too for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $2.4 trillion by 2028 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Recommendations from previous editions of this report have produced gains of +205%, +258% and +477%. The stocks in this report could perform even better.See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Get Your Free (CPHYX): Fund Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.