2 Funds, Same Team. Which Has the Edge?

David Kathman: Oppenheimer Discovery Mid Cap Growth is a fund that we recently brought under coverage with a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Bronze. It's run by an experienced team using a pretty solid fundamentally driven process, and it's put up good performance numbers, with returns in the mid-cap growth category's top quartile since adopting its current strategy in 2010. It's also a bit cheaper than its average peer.

The same team also manages Oppenheimer Discovery, a small-growth fund that earns an Analyst Rating of Silver, and there are a couple of reasons for that higher rating. The Discovery fund has similarly strong long-term returns, but the team has been running the strategy for quite a bit longer, since 2006 at Oppenheimer and for four years before that at Merrill Lynch. It's also cheaper than its sibling in both absolute and relative terms.

The fact that these funds are both medalists means that we consider them good funds that are likely to outperform over a full market cycle, but the Discovery fund's longer track record and lower price tag give us more confidence in it, which is reflected in the higher Analyst Rating.