Oppenheimer Adds Incentives to Two International Funds

Oppenheimer Funds plans to offer brokers who sell two of its international fund some extra incentive through the end of the year.

The New York-based shop will pay brokerages an extra 0.5% commission on sales of the (OIGAX Quote)Oppenheimer International Growth and (ODMAX Quote)Oppenheimer Developing Markets funds, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing. The boosted commissions apply to sales of Class A and Class B shares sold from Sept. 18 through Dec. 31.

This promotional maneuver, called full dealer reallowance, is fairly common among broker-sold fund shops. Here's how it works:

When you buy shares of a broker-sold fund you typically pay a sales charge, also known as a "load," a portion of which goes to pay your broker's commission. Another portion, typically about 0.5% of the sales amount, goes to the fund company. In a reallowance program, the fund company returns its share to the participating brokerage. Typically, all or part of that share is passed on to the broker. (For more on reallowance, see this story.)

Pioneer has been offering reallowance on 24 of its funds all summer in a promotion that ends next week, and MFS Funds recently offered boosted commissions on its new MFS Technology and MFS Global Telecommunications funds.

By boosting a fund's payout, fund companies hope to help it stand out in a crowded market. But critics say reallowance could induce less scrupulous brokers to sell a fund for its higher payout, rather than its suitability for a client.

Both Oppenheimer funds offering reallowance have solid performance and steady management. Oppenheimer International Growth, run by George Evans since its 1996 inception, boasts a 22.3% annualized return over the last three years, which beats the S&P 500 index by more than three percentage points and 90% of the fund's peers.

Oppenheimer Developing Markets, run by Rajeev Bhaman since its 1996 inception, has a 10.7% three-year annualized return, which beats virtually every other emerging-markets fund.