OFI Institutional Asset Management Named Emerging Markets Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor Magazine

NEW YORK, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- OFI Institutional Asset Management (OFII), a subsidiary of OppenheimerFunds, Inc., (OFI), has been named the Emerging Markets Manager of the Year by Institutional Investor Magazine.  The award is part of Institutional Investor's 2010 U.S. Investment Management Awards, which recognizes U.S. money managers who stood out in the eyes of the investor community for their exceptional performance, risk management and service.

Winners were selected based on a survey of more than 1,000 institutional investors, including plan sponsors, endowments, foundations and public pension funds.  Survey participants were asked to rank their top managers based on a scale of 1-10 in the areas of client service, innovation, performance, reputation of firm and risk management.  The survey was conducted by II Research, and covers the period 1/1/09 to 12/31/09.

"This is a great honor to receive and we're extremely proud to be recognized by II and the institutional investor community," said Justin Leverenz, VP and portfolio manager of the Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund.

The II award is one of several recent honors received by OppenheimerFunds, Inc., and its subsidiaries. Earlier this year, OFI received several recognitions, including:

• Three 2010 Lipper Best-in-Class Fund Awards:(1)
  • Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund Y shares – named Best-in-Class out of 230 Emerging Markets funds over a three-year period (ended 12/31/09, based on Consistent Return)
  • Oppenheimer Gold & Special Minerals Fund A shares – named Best-in-Class out of 50 Gold Oriented funds over a five-year period (ended 12/31/09, based on Consistent Return)
  • Oppenheimer International Bond Fund Y shares – named Best-in-Class out of 53 International Income funds over a five-year period (ended 12/31/09, based on Consistent Return)
• Barron's/Lipper "Best Mutual-Fund Families" survey(2) – OppenheimerFunds, Inc. was ranked among the top 10 mutual fund families for 2009, ranking #7 out of 61 mutual fund families.
  • OFI's Rochester municipal bond fund family was also ranked #1 among 61 tax-exempt bond fund families, based on 2009 performance

"I take extreme pride in the commendations OppenheimerFunds has received this year," said Bill Glavin, CEO of OppenheimerFunds, Inc.  "OFI and our affiliates are deeply committed to delivering investment excellence to our clients and investors, and while it's not the impetus for what we endeavor at the firm, this recognition lends credence to the skill of our investment professionals."

About OppenheimerFunds, Inc.

OppenheimerFunds, Inc. is one of the nation's largest and most respected investment management companies.  At March 31, 2010, OppenheimerFunds, Inc., including subsidiaries, managed more than $160 billion in assets, including mutual funds having nearly 6 million shareholder accounts.  

Before investing in any of the Oppenheimer funds, investors should carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Fund prospectuses and if available, summary prospectuses contain this and other information about the fund, and may be obtained by asking your financial advisor, calling us at 1.800.525.7048 or visiting our website at www.oppenheimerfunds.com. Read prospectuses and if available, summary prospectuses carefully before investing.

Shares of mutual funds are not deposits or obligations of any bank, are not guaranteed by any bank, are not insured by the FDIC or any other agency, and involve investment risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested.  

OppenheimerFunds is widely recognized as a leader in educating and empowering investors and for its award-winning customer service.

OppenheimerFunds, Inc., Two World Financial Center, 225 Liberty Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10281.  OppenheimerFunds, Inc. is a member of the MassMutual Financial Group and is not affiliated with Oppenheimer & Co, Inc. or Oppenheimer Capital.

OppenheimerFunds are distributed by OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc. Two World Financial Center, 225 Liberty Street, New York, NY, 10281.

Bonds are exposed to credit and interest rate risks (when rates rise, bond/fund prices generally fall). Foreign securities entail special risks (such as currency fluctuations and political uncertainties) and may have higher expenses and volatility.  Lower rated ("junk") bonds are more at risk of default than other bond investments and are subject to liquidity risk.  Large sector holdings may expose investors to greater volatility and special risks associated with that sector. Investments in emerging markets and growth stocks may be especially volatile.  Derivative instruments, securities whose values depend on the performance of an underlying security or asset, entail potentially higher volatility and risk of loss compared to traditional stock or bond investments. A portion of a municipal bond fund's distributions may be subject to tax and may increase taxes for investors subject to AMT.  Capital gains distributions are taxable as capital gains.

(1) Lipper awards are granted annually to the funds in each Lipper classification that achieve the highest score for Consistent Return, a measure of funds' historical risk-adjusted returns, measured in local currency, relative to peers.  Winners are selected using the Lipper Leader rating for Consistent Return for funds with at least 36 months of performance history as of 12/31/09.  Awards are presented for the highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return within each eligible classification over 3, 5 or 10 years.  Best-in-Class awards for the five-year period ending 12/31/09 are for: Class A shares of Oppenheimer Gold & Special Minerals Fund among 50 Gold Oriented funds and Class Y shares of Oppenheimer International Bond Fund among 53 International Income funds.  A Best-in-Class award for the three-year period ending 12/31/09 is for: Class Y shares of Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund among 230 Emerging Markets funds.

Other share classes may have different performance and expense characteristics.  Class Y shares are not available for purchase by all investors.  Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by Lipper. Lipper awards are not intended to predict future results. Past performance does not guarantee future results

(2) Source: Barron's/Lipper Special Report, "Best Mutual Fund Families," February 1, 2010. The Barron's/Lipper Best Fund Families survey identified and ranked 61 fund families (from Lipper's universe of 1,455 fund families) that had at least three funds in Lipper's general U.S. stock category, one world equity fund (global or international), one mixed-equity fund, two taxable bond funds and one tax-exempt bond fund in 2009.  Lipper calculated each fund's net total return for the year ended December 31, 2009, and adjusted those returns for 12b-1 fees in 2009, without considering sales charges.  Each fund in the survey was given a preliminary percentile ranking in its category. That ranking measured how a fund compared with its peer "universe," as tracked by Lipper, not just the funds in the survey.  Individual fund scores were then multiplied by the 2009 weighting of their general classification.  Those fund scores were then totaled, creating an overall score and ranking for each fund family in each category. OppenheimerFunds ranked 7/61, 39/54 and 20/48 for the one, five and ten year periods, respectively, ending 12/31/09.  Past performance does not guarantee future results.  

SOURCE OppenheimerFunds, Inc.