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Is Oakmark Investor (OAKMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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All Cap Value fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Oakmark Investor (OAKMX - Free Report) . OAKMX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify OAKMX in the All Cap Value category, an area rife with potential choices. Like the name suggests, MUTUAL FUNDS invest in small, medium, and large-cap companies, though they end up focusing on bigger firms due to percentage of assets. These funds look for key value characteristics, targeting stocks that boast low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and whose share prices do not reflect their worth.

History of Fund/Manager

Oakmark is responsible for OAKMX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. Since Oakmark Investor made its debut in August of 1991, OAKMX has garnered more than $7.51 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. OAKMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 16.34% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.03%, which places it in the bottom 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. The standard deviation of OAKMX over the past three years is 25.96% compared to the category average of 16.03%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.97% compared to the category average of 13.29%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.32, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. OAKMX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.21, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 89.18% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $149.26 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Non-Durable
  3. Technology
Turnover is 35%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, OAKMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 1.13%. From a cost perspective, OAKMX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oakmark Investor ( OAKMX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Oakmark Investor ( OAKMX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Your research on the All Cap Value segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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