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Is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Tech category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX - Free Report) . ROGSX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and ROGSX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
ROGSX finds itself in the Oak Associates family, based out of Akron, OH. Red Oak Technology Select debuted in December of 1998. Since then, ROGSX has accumulated assets of about $460.46 million, according to the most recently available information. Mark W. Oelschlager is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 23.18%, and is in the top 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 19.34% The fund's 3-year annualized total return of 19.34% places it in the middle third, a metric that will likely stand out if you prefer to look at shorter time frames.
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. Over the past three years, ROGSX's standard deviation comes in at 13.87%, compared to the category average of 15.33%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 12.19% compared to the category average of 13.69%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, ROGSX lost 51.66% and outperformed its peer group by 1.15%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
And for investors concerned about the potential drawdown in a really bad calendar year, we can look back to 2008 for that figure. In its worst calendar year in a decade, the fund lost over 44.62%.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.13, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 5.4, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 96.89% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $198.36 billion.
With turnover at about 20%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, ROGSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.41%. So, ROGSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $25.
Bottom Line
Overall, Red Oak Technology Select ROGSX has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Red Oak Technology Select ROGSX looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about ROGSX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Tech category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX - Free Report) . ROGSX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and ROGSX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
ROGSX finds itself in the Oak Associates family, based out of Akron, OH. Red Oak Technology Select debuted in December of 1998. Since then, ROGSX has accumulated assets of about $460.46 million, according to the most recently available information. Mark W. Oelschlager is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 23.18%, and is in the top 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 19.34% The fund's 3-year annualized total return of 19.34% places it in the middle third, a metric that will likely stand out if you prefer to look at shorter time frames.
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. Over the past three years, ROGSX's standard deviation comes in at 13.87%, compared to the category average of 15.33%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 12.19% compared to the category average of 13.69%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, ROGSX lost 51.66% and outperformed its peer group by 1.15%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
And for investors concerned about the potential drawdown in a really bad calendar year, we can look back to 2008 for that figure. In its worst calendar year in a decade, the fund lost over 44.62%.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.13, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 5.4, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 96.89% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $198.36 billion.
With turnover at about 20%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, ROGSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.41%. So, ROGSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $25.
Bottom Line
Overall, Red Oak Technology Select ROGSX has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Red Oak Technology Select ROGSX looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about ROGSX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.