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

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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Invesco Developing Markets A (ODMAX - Free Report) . ODMAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ODMAX. Invesco Developing Markets A made its debut in November of 1996, and since then, ODMAX has accumulated about $2.55 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Justin Leverenz who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of -3.56%, and it sits in the bottom 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 -6.59%, which places it in the bottom 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. ODMAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.71% compared to the category average of 16.41%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.82% compared to the category average of 14.64%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.78, 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. ODMAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -9.94, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, ODMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.23% compared to the category average of 1.15%. From a cost perspective, ODMAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

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, Invesco Developing Markets A ( ODMAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Invesco Developing Markets A ( ODMAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into ODMAX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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