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Is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Sector - Tech fund seekers should consider taking a look at Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX - Free Report) . ROGSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
ROGSX is part of the Sector - Tech category, which boasts an array of different possible selections. With a much more diversified approach, Sector - Tech mutual funds give investors a way to own a stake in a notoriously risky sector. Tech companies are in various industries like semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, among others.
History of Fund/Manager
Oak Associates is based in Oaks, PA, and is the manager of ROGSX. Red Oak Technology Select debuted in December of 1998. Since then, ROGSX has accumulated assets of about $494.14 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 it sits 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%, 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. Over the past three years, ROGSX's standard deviation comes in at 13.87%, compared to the category average of 15.33%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years 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
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, ROGSX lost 51.66% and outperformed its peer group by 1.15%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
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. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 5.4. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 96.89% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $198.36 billion.
This fund's turnover is about 20%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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%. ROGSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $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.
For additional information on the Sector - Tech 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 ROGSX too 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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Is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Sector - Tech fund seekers should consider taking a look at Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX - Free Report) . ROGSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
ROGSX is part of the Sector - Tech category, which boasts an array of different possible selections. With a much more diversified approach, Sector - Tech mutual funds give investors a way to own a stake in a notoriously risky sector. Tech companies are in various industries like semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, among others.
History of Fund/Manager
Oak Associates is based in Oaks, PA, and is the manager of ROGSX. Red Oak Technology Select debuted in December of 1998. Since then, ROGSX has accumulated assets of about $494.14 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 it sits 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%, 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. Over the past three years, ROGSX's standard deviation comes in at 13.87%, compared to the category average of 15.33%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years 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
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, ROGSX lost 51.66% and outperformed its peer group by 1.15%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
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. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 5.4. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 96.89% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $198.36 billion.
This fund's turnover is about 20%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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%. ROGSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $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.
For additional information on the Sector - Tech 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 ROGSX too 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.