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If investors are looking at the International Bond - Developed fund category, make sure to pass over Oppenheimer International Bond A (OIBAX - Free Report) . OIBAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes OIBAX as International Bond - Developed, a segment that is packed with options. Focusing on fixed income securities outside from developed nations besides the U.S. International Bond - Developed funds invest in assets from countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, France, and Australia. These holdings dominate the top holdings, and funds in this category offer geographic diversification; however, they can also introduce currency risk.
History of Fund/Manager
Invesco is responsible for OIBAX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. Oppenheimer International Bond A made its debut in June of 1995, and since then, OIBAX has accumulated about $395.06 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. OIBAX has a 5-year annualized total return of -1% and it sits 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 -4.77%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.31%, the standard deviation of OIBAX over the past three years is 10.8%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.51% compared to the category average of 14.02%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
OIBAX carries a beta of 0.24, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -0.08, 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, OIBAX 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 OIBAX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, OIBAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 0.93%. From a cost perspective, OIBAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to 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, Oppenheimer International Bond A ( OIBAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the International Bond - Developed 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 OIBAX 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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Is OIBAX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the International Bond - Developed fund category, make sure to pass over Oppenheimer International Bond A (OIBAX - Free Report) . OIBAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes OIBAX as International Bond - Developed, a segment that is packed with options. Focusing on fixed income securities outside from developed nations besides the U.S. International Bond - Developed funds invest in assets from countries like Japan, Germany, the UK, France, and Australia. These holdings dominate the top holdings, and funds in this category offer geographic diversification; however, they can also introduce currency risk.
History of Fund/Manager
Invesco is responsible for OIBAX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. Oppenheimer International Bond A made its debut in June of 1995, and since then, OIBAX has accumulated about $395.06 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. OIBAX has a 5-year annualized total return of -1% and it sits 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 -4.77%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.31%, the standard deviation of OIBAX over the past three years is 10.8%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.51% compared to the category average of 14.02%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
OIBAX carries a beta of 0.24, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -0.08, 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, OIBAX 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 OIBAX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, OIBAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 0.93%. From a cost perspective, OIBAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to 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, Oppenheimer International Bond A ( OIBAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the International Bond - Developed 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 OIBAX 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.