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Is Oppenheimer Discovery Y (ODIYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Small Cap Growth fund seekers should consider taking a look at Oppenheimer Discovery Y (ODIYX - Free Report) . ODIYX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

ODIYX is one of many different Small Cap Growth funds to choose from. Small Cap Growth mutual funds build portfolios around stocks with markets caps under $2 billion and large growth opportunities. Additionally, these portfolios typically highlight smaller companies in promising markets and industries.

History of Fund/Manager

Oppenheimer is based in Denver, CO, and is the manager of ODIYX. Oppenheimer Discovery Y debuted in June of 1994. Since then, ODIYX has accumulated assets of about $593.90 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Ronald J. Zibelli Jr. who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.54%, and it sits in the middle 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 9.33%, 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. The standard deviation of ODIYX over the past three years is 15.77% compared to the category average of 10.5%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.02% compared to the category average of 10.36%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. ODIYX lost 49.18% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 3.79%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. ODIYX has a 5-year beta of 1.13, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -3.06, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, ODIYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.84% compared to the category average of 1.25%. So, ODIYX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oppenheimer Discovery Y ( ODIYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Oppenheimer Discovery Y ( ODIYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Small Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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