Oppenheimer 60th Anniversary - 24

Reprinting of From Opportunity to
Legacy: Celebrating the First Fifty Years

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The Global Fund: Success in
a World of Investment Options
1969

Consistency is one hallmark of OppenheimerFunds' success. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the management of the Oppenheimer
Global Fund. Launched in 1969 and initially known
as Oppenheimer A.I.M. Fund, the Fund has had only
three managers in its 40 years of existence: Ken Oberman, Bill Wilby, and, since 2005, Rajeev Bhaman, who
previously managed the Oppenheimer Developing
Markets Fund.
That's not just unusual in the mutual fund industry
- it's unprecedented. Indeed, according to a study by
Standard & Poor's, the average tenure for a portfolio
manager of a large-company stock fund is just 5.6 years.
Experience, it turns out, seems to matter too. In another
study, S&P found that the funds in the top half of its
ratings in terms of performance had managers with an
average of 9.5 years of experience.
It should be no surprise, then, that under Oberman,
who was the portfolio manager for 23 years, the Fund
flourished - even though his tenure spanned a time

Bill Wilby, one of only
three managers of the
Oppenheimer Global
Fund, created the
Global Equity Team.

when there was scant interest in
foreign companies. In fact, the Fund
grew to a point where it constituted a significant portion of the
Company's overall earnings. "He
was something of a legend both at
OppenheimerFunds and in the
business," said Bill Wilby, who succeeded Oberman as
manager of the Global Fund after Oberman's death in
1992. "It was clearly one of the top-ranked global funds
in the industry."
Once he settled in, Wilby launched what is now
known as the Global Equity Team, which gives individual portfolio managers autonomy to make decisions
about their own funds but also ensures collaboration
with other team members, all of whom share a common investment philosophy and approach to selecting
stocks (see page 37).
While the team structure influences how the Fund
is managed, the overall approach to identifying investments for the portfolio has remained constant. "You've
got to be able to perform in all market environments
and not just be a one-trick investment pony," said
Wilby. Under Bhaman, as it was when Wilby was the
manager, the Global Fund seeks long-term growth by
investing in both U.S. and foreign companies. Although
the Fund has the freedom to invest in emerging markets, it tends to stick with mid- and large-cap stocks in
the developed economies of Western Europe, Japan,
and the United States. It must be noted that international investing entails additional expenses and special
risks, including currency fluctuations, foreign taxes, and
political and economic uncertainties.
Regardless of location, the Fund seeks out companies with high growth potential, preferably ones whose
stock prices have the potential to appreciate in value
over the next three to five years. The way Bhaman
chooses which stocks to buy is through fundamental
analysis of individual companies; in other words, by the
hard work of examining things like financial statements,
operations, management, and product development.
"We spend most of our time analyzing companies, and
we look at research from whatever source we can,"
said George Evans, who replaced Wilby as head of the

The 2009 annual report of the Oppenheimer Global Fund
(left) and the 1970 annual report of the Oppenheimer A.I.M.
Fund. Throughout its 40-year history, the Oppenheimer
Global Fund, formerly the Oppenheimer A.I.M. Fund, has
emphasized a long-term vision of growth.

Global Team after Wilby became Head of Equities in
2004. "We also visit companies and do an awful lot
of reading, research, and travel."
As the Global Fund searches out long-term
growth opportunities, it also focuses on companies
that may benefit from larger societal trends. "We do
have a broad, thematic-based approach to investing, which really hasn't changed since I got here in
1990," said Evans. "We have a mantra: mass affluence, leading technology, restructuring, and aging.
And those have been perennial themes throughout
my time here."
Having an investment approach that not only
emphasizes long-term growth, but also requires
in-depth analysis of individual companies, has
enabled the Global Fund to navigate some highprofile world events that negatively impacted many
investors. Wilby recalled a time when he and a few
other members of the Global Team were traveling in
Asia in 1997, right before the financial crisis struck
the continent. "It was clear to all of us that there was
a real financial crisis brewing there, and also what
the implications of it were going to be. But markets
were still going up, and we cut back our exposure
enormously in that part of the world," he said. "Many
of our competitors got hurt very badly, and we managed to dodge that bullet." n

"You've got to be able to perform in all market environments
and not just be a one-trick investment pony." BILL WILBY
24 * OppenheimerFunds: The First Fifty Years

Oppenheimer 60th Anniversary

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