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Is Oppenheimer Developing Markets Y (ODVYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Non US - Equity fund category, make sure to pass over Oppenheimer Developing Markets Y (ODVYX - Free Report) . ODVYX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify ODVYX 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

ODVYX finds itself in the Oppenheimer family, based out of Denver, CO. The Oppenheimer Developing Markets Y made its debut in September of 2005 and ODVYX has managed to accumulate roughly $17.68 billion in assets, as of 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.35%, 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 13.12%, 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, ODVYX's standard deviation comes in at 12.77%, compared to the category average of 9.54%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 13.63% compared to the category average of 9.29%. 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 ODVYX's case, the fund lost 57.18% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 1.22%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse 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. ODVYX has a 5-year beta of 0.98, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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 -8.72. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, ODVYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 1.28%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ODVYX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oppenheimer Developing Markets Y ( ODVYX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Oppenheimer Developing Markets Y ( ODVYX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about ODVYX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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