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Is Oppenheimer International Small -Mid Company A (OSMAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with Oppenheimer International Small -Mid Company A (OSMAX - Free Report) is one possibility. OSMAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

OSMAX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.

History of Fund/Manager

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of OSMAX. Since Oppenheimer International Small -Mid Company A made its debut in November of 1997, OSMAX has garnered more than $1.40 billion in assets. Frank Jennings is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2018.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.42%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.62%, which places it in the top 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, OSMAX's standard deviation comes in at 13.19%, compared to the category average of 9.53%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 11.99% compared to the category average of 9.99%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. OSMAX lost 71.4% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 12.94%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. OSMAX has a 5-year beta of 0.82, which means it is likely to be less 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. OSMAX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 1.5, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, OSMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.37% compared to the category average of 1.20%. So, OSMAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

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, Oppenheimer International Small -Mid Company A ( OSMAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees compared to its peers.

Your research on the Non US - Equity 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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