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

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If you've been stuck searching for Non US - Equity funds, consider Oppenheimer International Small -Mid Company A (OSMAX - Free Report) as a possibility. OSMAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (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. Oppenheimer International Small -Mid Company A made its debut in November of 1997, and since then, OSMAX has accumulated about $1.46 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Frank Jennings, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2018.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.76%, and is 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 15.69%, 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 12.72%, compared to the category average of 10.3%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 11.97% compared to the category average of 10.42%. This makes the fund more 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 OSMAX's case, the fund lost 71.4% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 13%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.81, the fund is likely to be less 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. OSMAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 2.68, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, OSMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.35% compared to the category average of 1.25%. OSMAX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oppenheimer International Small -Mid Company A ( OSMAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund 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 Non US - Equity, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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