Is Oppenheimer Global Opportunities A (OPGIX) A Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Global - Equity fund seekers should consider taking a look at Oppenheimer Global Opportunities A OPGIX. OPGIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes OPGIX as Global - Equity, which is a segment packed with options. Global - Equity mutual funds invest in large markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, and operate with very few geographical limitations. They also provide an investment technique that leverages the diverse nature of the global economy in the hopes of providing a stable return.

History of Fund/Manager

Oppenheimer is responsible for OPGIX, and the company is based out of Denver, CO. Oppenheimer Global Opportunities A debuted in October of 1990. Since then, OPGIX has accumulated assets of about $4.15 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Frank V. Jennings, has been in charge of the fund since October of 1995.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 21.65%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 27.43%, 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. OPGIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 17.67% compared to the category average of 9.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.24% compared to the category average of 9.01%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In OPGIX's case, the fund lost 54.49% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 2.1%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.09, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. OPGIX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 7.06, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, OPGIX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.15% compared to the category average of 1.19%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, OPGIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oppenheimer Global Opportunities A has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Global - Equity 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 OPGIX 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.