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Is OIBYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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Having trouble finding an International Bond - Developed fund? Well, Oppenheimer International Bond Y (OIBYX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. OIBYX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

OIBYX is one of many International Bond - Developed funds to choose from. International Bond - Developed funds offer investors geographic diversification by focusing on fixed income securities from developed nations besides the United States. Top holdings include assets from countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, France, and Australia. While these is certainly an advantage, investors should be aware of currency risk.

History of Fund/Manager

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of OIBYX. Oppenheimer International Bond Y debuted in October of 2004. Since then, OIBYX has accumulated assets of about $425.63 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. OIBYX has a 5-year annualized total return of -0.76% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -4.47%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of OIBYX over the past three years is 10.91% compared to the category average of 13.31%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 12.55% compared to the category average of 14.02%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.25, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, OIBYX has a positive alpha of 0.19, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, OIBYX has 27.22% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 34.26% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 36.04%, giving OIBYX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.

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, OIBYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 0.93%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, OIBYX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Oppenheimer International Bond Y ( OIBYX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on International Bond - Developed funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare OIBYX to its peers 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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