American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America (ASBAX)
The investment seeks current income, consistent with the maturity and quality standards described in the prospectus, and preservation of capital. The fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in bonds (bonds include any debt instrument and cash equivalents). It maintains a portfolio of bonds, other debt securities and money market instruments having a dollar-weighted average effective maturity no greater than three years and consisting primarily of debt securities rated AA- or Aa3 or better. The fund primarily invests in debt securities denominated in U.S. dollars. It may invest up to 10% of its assets in debt securities in the A rating category.
Fund Info
US82524A1025
82524A102
Oct 2, 2006
$250
Expense Ratio
ASBAX has an expense ratio of 0.66%, placing it in the medium range.
Share Price Chart
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Performance
Performance Chart
The chart shows the growth of an initial investment of $10,000 in American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America, comparing it to the performance of the S&P 500 index or another benchmark. All prices have been adjusted for splits and dividends.
Returns By Period
American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America (ASBAX) returned 1.64% year-to-date (YTD) and 5.44% over the past 12 months. Over the past 10 years, ASBAX returned 1.30% annually, underperforming the S&P 500 benchmark at 10.61%.
ASBAX
1.64%
-0.31%
2.32%
5.44%
1.03%
1.30%
^GSPC (Benchmark)
-3.31%
5.38%
-0.74%
10.90%
14.93%
10.61%
Monthly Returns
The table below presents the monthly returns of ASBAX, with color gradation from worst to best to easily spot seasonal factors. Returns are adjusted for dividends.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 0.55% | 0.73% | 0.35% | 0.42% | -0.42% | 1.64% | |||||||
| 2024 | 0.53% | -0.43% | 0.43% | -0.40% | 0.67% | 0.55% | 1.09% | 0.97% | 0.86% | -0.59% | 0.33% | 0.24% | 4.32% |
| 2023 | 0.82% | -0.86% | 1.54% | 0.24% | -0.37% | -0.69% | 0.50% | 0.30% | -0.02% | 0.32% | 1.17% | 0.94% | 3.93% |
| 2022 | -0.57% | -0.17% | -1.36% | -0.74% | 0.24% | -0.53% | 0.56% | -0.76% | -1.36% | -0.09% | 0.70% | 0.19% | -3.83% |
| 2021 | 0.03% | -0.17% | -0.07% | 0.05% | 0.13% | -0.26% | 0.04% | -0.05% | -0.07% | -0.19% | -0.18% | -0.14% | -0.87% |
| 2020 | 0.52% | 1.01% | 0.38% | 0.41% | 0.49% | 0.27% | 0.17% | 0.07% | -0.03% | -0.04% | 0.14% | -0.85% | 2.54% |
| 2019 | 0.43% | 0.12% | 0.48% | 0.38% | 0.48% | 0.46% | -0.25% | 0.34% | -0.06% | 0.33% | -0.08% | 0.24% | 2.92% |
| 2018 | -0.41% | -0.11% | 0.18% | -0.24% | 0.45% | 0.06% | -0.03% | 0.35% | -0.18% | 0.13% | 0.25% | 0.66% | 1.10% |
| 2017 | 0.16% | 0.27% | 0.03% | 0.22% | 0.10% | -0.09% | 0.29% | 0.18% | -0.13% | -0.00% | -0.19% | -0.02% | 0.83% |
| 2016 | 0.46% | -0.05% | 0.46% | 0.15% | -0.12% | 0.51% | -0.00% | -0.22% | 0.25% | 0.07% | -0.52% | -0.01% | 0.99% |
| 2015 | 0.61% | -0.36% | 0.34% | 0.09% | 0.11% | -0.03% | -0.09% | -0.10% | 0.15% | 0.13% | -0.16% | -0.44% | 0.25% |
| 2014 | 0.14% | 0.24% | -0.18% | 0.12% | 0.23% | 0.03% | -0.16% | 0.04% | -0.08% | 0.23% | 0.04% | -0.26% | 0.39% |
Risk-Adjusted Performance
Risk-Adjusted Performance Rank
With an overall rank of 97, ASBAX is among the top 3% of mutual funds on our website when it comes to balancing risk and reward. Below is a breakdown of how it compares using common performance measures.
Risk-Adjusted Performance Indicators
The charts below present risk-adjusted performance metrics for American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America (ASBAX) and compare them to a chosen benchmark (^GSPC). These indicators evaluate an investment's returns against its associated risks.
Dividends
Dividend History
American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America provided a 3.69% dividend yield over the last twelve months, with an annual payout of $0.35 per share. The fund has been increasing its distributions for 3 consecutive years.
| Period | TTM | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend | $0.35 | $0.38 | $0.30 | $0.13 | $0.04 | $0.11 | $0.18 | $0.17 | $0.11 | $0.09 | $0.09 | $0.04 |
Dividend yield | 3.69% | 4.00% | 3.20% | 1.37% | 0.42% | 1.11% | 1.76% | 1.70% | 1.13% | 0.89% | 0.86% | 0.39% |
Monthly Dividends
The table displays the monthly dividend distributions for American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America. The dividends shown in the table have been adjusted to account for any splits that may have occurred.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.10 | |||||||
| 2024 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.38 |
| 2023 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.03 | $0.02 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.03 | $0.30 |
| 2022 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.13 |
| 2021 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.04 |
| 2020 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.11 |
| 2019 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.18 |
| 2018 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.02 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.02 | $0.17 |
| 2017 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.11 |
| 2016 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.09 |
| 2015 | $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.01 | $0.09 |
| 2014 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.04 |
Drawdowns
Drawdowns Chart
The Drawdowns chart displays portfolio losses from any high point along the way. Drawdowns are calculated considering price movements and all distributions paid, if any.
Worst Drawdowns
The table below displays the maximum drawdowns of the American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America. A maximum drawdown is a measure of risk, indicating the largest reduction in portfolio value due to a series of losing trades.
The maximum drawdown for the American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America was 6.83%, occurring on Oct 20, 2022. Recovery took 442 trading sessions.
The current American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America drawdown is 0.42%.
Depth | Start | To Bottom | Bottom | To Recover | End | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -6.83% | Dec 31, 2020 | 455 | Oct 20, 2022 | 442 | Jul 26, 2024 | 897 |
| -2.16% | Sep 16, 2008 | 31 | Oct 28, 2008 | 53 | Jan 14, 2009 | 84 |
| -1.68% | Mar 6, 2020 | 13 | Mar 24, 2020 | 26 | Apr 30, 2020 | 39 |
| -1.38% | May 3, 2013 | 87 | Sep 5, 2013 | 174 | May 15, 2014 | 261 |
| -1.38% | Jan 24, 2008 | 99 | Jun 13, 2008 | 59 | Sep 9, 2008 | 158 |
Volatility
Volatility Chart
The current American Funds Short-Term Bond Fund of America volatility is 0.76%, representing the average percentage change in the investments's value, either up or down over the past month. The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.