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 Next up in this series is Oppenheimer Funds mutual funds. Just in case you're wondering if we've done our homework - yes we do know that the real name is one word - OppenheimerFunds. But to make things easy we're going to use the two terms interchangeably when describing the performance of this family of mutual funds.
Oppenheimer Funds Family of Funds
OppenheimerFunds was originally part of Oppenheimer Management Corporation, which had three operating subsidiaries - OppenheimerFunds, Oppenheimer Capital and Oppenheimer & Company. After a series of acquisitions, Oppenheimer Funds was separated from the rest of the Oppenheimer family of companies and has remained under a separate ownership structure since 1990.
Since that time, Oppenheimer Funds has grown to offer a diverse set of mutual funds, and retirement plans - such as traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs - to investors. With just over $260 billion in investor assets under its control, Oppenheimer Funds would not be considered a large mutual fund family when compared to Fidelity Mutual Funds. Where Oppenheimer appears to have carved out a niche in the mutual fund market is with its bond funds. Nearly 35% of the funds assets are held in taxable bonds and municipal bond funds.
Oppenheimer Funds Fee Structure and Returns
According to Morningstar, the average expense ratio for a mutual fund at Oppenheimer Funds range from average for their domestic stock (1.46%), international stock (1.55%) and taxable bond funds (1.16%) to above average for their municipal bond fund (1.24%). As mentioned earlier, a relatively large proportion of assets are invested in bond funds (35%) while domestic stocks (28%) and international stocks (28%) make up the balance.
The minimum investment to open an account at Oppenheimer Funds is just $1,000 - somewhere in the middle of the pack for those mutual fund families reviewed to date. As was the case with American Mutual Funds, nearly all of the funds carry a load. In fact, only 6.4% of the assets are held in funds at Oppenheimer that are no-load mutual funds. As of the end of November 2007, the average return for an OppenheimerFunds mutual fund over the last five years is 14.30%.
Top Rated Oppenheimer Funds Mutual Funds
Did we mention that Oppenheimer had a lot of bond funds under management? Well guess what? Two of the top rated mutual funds from Oppenheimer are municipal bond funds. In keeping true to the bond fund theme we have going, the third on our list of top rated funds is an international bond fund. Unfortunately, all three of these funds carry a large front load of 4.75%.
- Oppenheimer CA Municipal (OPCAX) - with just over $2.2 billion in assets, nearly all of the money is invested in California bond funds. The funds larger holdings include Golden State TOB Securitization, California Statewide Financing Authority and Puerto Rico Ports Authority The expense ratio for this fund is 1.29% with a minimum investment of $1,000 and a front load of 4.75%. The average return of this fund over the last five years is 5.64%. (November 2007)
- Oppenheimer NJ Municipal (ONJAX) - with $862 million in assets, we see the same pattern emerging for this New Jersey municipal bond fund that we saw with the California fund. Top holdings include Tobacco Settlement bonds of various terms. The expense ratio for the fund is just 0.82% and the minimum investment is $1,000. The average return over the last five years is 6.55%. (November 2007)
- Oppenheimer International Bond A (OIBAX) - with just over $9.1 billion in assets, this fund focuses on international treasury bonds. Top holdings include bonds from the United States, Italy, and Japanese governments. The expense ratio is 0.97% and minimum investment is once again $1,000. Saving the best for last here, this top rated fund from Oppenheimer Funds has produced an average return of 14.53% over the past five years. (November 2007
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