JPMorgan New York Tax Free Bond A VANTX

The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the second-lowest fee quintile among peers.

The strategy's sensible investment philosophy merits an Above Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an overweight in AA rated bonds and debt with 10- to 15-year maturities compared with category peers. The strategy's entire management team changed less than a year ago. The strategy's new leadership earns an Above Average People Pillar rating, following a recent upgrade from Average. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Above Average Parent Pillar rating, and this rating is inherited from vehicles belonging to the same branding entity and is indirectly assigned by an analyst.

JPMorgan New York Tax Free Bond Fund earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating.

The leading factor in the rating is the parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 57%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The parent firm's impressive risk-adjusted performance, as shown by its average 10-year Morningstar Rating of 3.3 stars, also bolsters the rating. Lastly, the process is limited by the fund's mediocre long-term risk-adjusted performance. This can be seen in its five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the process has struggled over that period.

Compared with other funds in the Muni New York Intermediate Morningstar Category, this fund takes on significantly lower credit risk. But in terms of long-term interest-rate sensitivity, it hews closely to its average peer over the past few years. Opening the analysis to additional factors, the portfolio has displayed biases over time, whether towards or away from certain fixed-income instruments. Relative to the category average, the managers have been overweight AA rated bonds in recent years. In the latest month, the strategy has relatively overweighted AA rated bonds compared with its peers as well. Additionally, there's been a bias towards debt with 10- to 15-year maturities over the past few years. Compared with category peers, the strategy had more exposure to debt with 10- to 15-year maturities in the most recent month. Finally, during the past few years, the fund leaned away from corporate debt. Nevertheless, the fund's corporate debt exposure was in line with peers in the latest month.

This strategy has a 2.7% 12-month yield, higher than its average peer's 2.4%. Plus, its 30-day SEC yield (a measure similar to yield-to-maturity) sits at 2.7%. Typically, higher yields come at the cost of higher credit risk. But that isn't always the case. Over the past 12 months, the average yield of the fund has been higher than the average yield of its Morningstar Category peers. The portfolio's average surveyed credit quality is on par with peers, with both the fund and the average being rated A.

This strategy has seen its entire listed management team change within the past three years. Even though this strategy dates back to February 2001, it's difficult to analyze the new team until they spend more time on the strategy.

Note: The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. At least one of the managers on this fund manages a different product rated by an analyst. The analyst-assigned People Pillar rating(s) for these managers are combined with algorithmic scores for any non-covered managers on a tenure-weighted basis.

As of 2022, this investment stalwart manages more than USD 2.5 trillion in AUM. Composed of various global cohorts and diverse asset classes, the firm has more tightly integrated its capabilities in recent years, notably through the development of proprietary analytical and risk systems. Investment teams are robustly staffed and helmed by seasoned contributors. The firm’s strategies tend to produce reliable portfolios, and several flagship offerings are Morningstar Medalists. Manager incentives align with fundholders'; compensation reflects longer-term performance factors, and portfolio managers invest in the firm’s strategies as part of their compensation plans.

The firm’s funds tend to be well-priced, but they aren’t as competitive as many highly regarded peers of similar scale. Recent product launches include thematic and single-country strategies, both of which carry the potential for volatile performance and flows, along with misuse by investors. The firm remains intrepid when it comes to developing an environmental, social, and governance-focused framework and continues to move into other areas such as direct indexing through its 55iP acquisition and China through its joint venture, but these complicated initiatives take time to assess any real and lasting effect.

The new team took the reins in February 2024. With this narrow of a time frame with the new team, it is difficult to meaningfully assess the fund’s performance.

This share class levies a fee that places it in its Morningstar Category's second-cheapest quintile. Even with this fee, the fund’s People, Process, and Parent Pillars suggest this share class should not be able to deliver positive alpha relative to its category benchmark, resulting in a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Neutral.