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Is Oppenheimer Developing Markets A (ODMAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Non US - Equity fund? Oppenheimer Developing Markets A (ODMAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. ODMAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify ODMAX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.

History of Fund/Manager

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ODMAX. Oppenheimer Developing Markets A debuted in November of 1996. Since then, ODMAX has accumulated assets of about $3.66 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Justin Leverenz who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.06%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.67%, 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 ODMAX over the past three years is 16.64% compared to the category average of 10.68%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.35% compared to the category average of 10.67%. 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. In ODMAX's case, the fund lost 57.31% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding 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. ODMAX has a 5-year beta of 0.95, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -4.67. This means that 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, ODMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.27% compared to the category average of 1.22%. So, ODMAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oppenheimer Developing Markets A ( ODMAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Oppenheimer Developing Markets A ( ODMAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on ODMAXin the Non US - Equity category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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