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Is Invesco Discovery Y (ODIYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Small Cap Growth funds, a place to start could be Invesco Discovery Y (ODIYX - Free Report) . ODIYX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Small Cap Growth funds is an area filled with options, such as ODIYX. These funds tend to create their portfolios around stocks that sport large growth opportunities and market capitalization of less than $2 billion. The companies in these portfolios are usually on the smaller side, and are in up-and-coming industries and markets.

History of Fund/Manager

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ODIYX. Since Invesco Discovery Y made its debut in June of 1994, ODIYX has garnered more than $1.89 billion in assets. Ronald J. Zibelli Jr. is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2006.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.14%, 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 12.13%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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. ODIYX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.63% compared to the category average of 15.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 21.55% compared to the category average of 14.76%. This makes the fund more 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. ODIYX has a 5-year beta of 1.12, which means it is likely to be more 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. With a negative alpha of -7.3, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 87.51% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $8.26 billion.

Turnover is 76%, which means this fund makes more trades in a given year than the category average.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, ODIYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 0.98%. So, ODIYX is actually cheaper 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 needs to be at $50.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Invesco Discovery Y ( ODIYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Invesco Discovery Y ( ODIYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Small Cap Growth 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 ODIYX too 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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