Is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

ROGSX

There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Tech category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Red Oak Technology Select (ROGSX - Free Report) . ROGSX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and ROGSX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.

History of Fund/Manager

Oak Associates is based in Akron, OH, and is the manager of ROGSX. The Red Oak Technology Select made its debut in December of 1998 and ROGSX has managed to accumulate roughly $663.77 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 24.16%, and is 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 20.58%, 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. ROGSX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.71% compared to the category average of 23.58%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.47% compared to the category average of 19.7%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. ROGSX has a 5-year beta of 0.96, 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. ROGSX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 6.07, 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, ROGSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 1.35%. So, ROGSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $25.

Bottom Line

Overall, Red Oak Technology Select ( ROGSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on ROGSXin the Sector - Tech 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.

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