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Matthews Asia Growth Fund
MPACX

Snapshot
  • Unconstrained growth strategy investing across Asia Pacific’s developed, emerging and frontier markets
  • Focus on the most profitable and attractive growth opportunities in Asia
  • Highly-differentiated portfolio offers exposure to names often under-represented in broader global equity strategies

10/31/2003

Inception Date

-0.86%

YTD Return

(as of 05/30/2023)

$20.66

NAV

(as of 05/30/2023)

-0.26

1 Day NAV Change

(as of 05/30/2023)

Objective

Long-term capital appreciation.

Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Matthews Asia Growth Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets, which include borrowings for investment purposes, in the common and preferred stocks of companies located in Asia. The Fund may also invest in the convertible securities, of any duration or quality, of Asian companies. The Fund seeks to invest in companies capable of sustainable growth based on the fundamental characteristics of those companies, including balance sheet information; number of employees; size and stability of cash flow; management’s depth, adaptability and integrity; product lines; marketing strategies; corporate governance; and financial health.

Risks

Investments in Asian securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Investing in emerging and frontier markets involves different and greater risks, as these countries are substantially smaller, less liquid and more volatile than securities markets in more developed markets.

These and other risks associated with investing in the Fund can be found in the prospectus.

Fund Facts
Inception Date 10/31/2003
Fund Assets $610.29 million (04/30/2023)
Currency USD
Ticker MPACX
Cusip 577-130-867
Portfolio Turnover 47.5%
Benchmark MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index
Geographic Focus Asia - Consists of all countries and markets in Asia, including developed, emerging, and frontier countries and markets in the Asian region
Fees & Expenses
Gross Expense Ratio 1.13%

Performance

  • Monthly
  • Quarterly
  • Calendar Year
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As of 04/30/2023
Average Annual Total Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Asia Growth Fund - MPACX
10/31/2003
MPACX
-1.12% -6.90% 1.63% -5.18% -2.61% -2.52% 2.84% 6.73%
MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index
-1.03% -3.80% 3.77% -2.09% 5.39% 1.04% 3.96% 6.07%
As of 03/31/2023
Average Annual Total Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Asia Growth Fund - MPACX
10/31/2003
MPACX
2.74% 2.78% 2.78% -12.36% 1.31% -2.93% 3.61% 6.82%
MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index
3.24% 4.85% 4.85% -7.42% 8.55% 1.42% 4.57% 6.15%
For the years ended December 31st
Name 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
Matthews Asia Growth Fund - MPACX
MPACX
-33.12% -14.65% 46.76% 26.18% -16.25% 39.39% 0.92% -0.05% 1.49% 19.35%
MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index
-16.92% -1.19% 20.07% 19.74% -13.25% 32.04% 5.21% -1.68% 0.29% 12.19%

Source: BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. All performance is in US$.

Assumes reinvestment of all dividends and/or distributions before taxes. All performance quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate with market conditions so that when redeemed, shares may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the return figures quoted. Returns would have been lower if certain of the Fund’s fees and expenses had not been waived. Performance differences between the Institutional class and the Investor class may arise due to differences in fees charged to each class.

Additional performance, attribution, liquidity, value at risk (VaR), security classification and holdings information is available on request for certain time periods.

Growth of a Hypothetical $10,000 Investment Since Inception

(as of 03/31/2023)

Source: BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. All performance is in US$.

The performance data and graph do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on dividends, capital gain distributions or redemption of fund shares.

Ratings

  • OVERALL
  • out of 10 funds
  • 3 YEAR
  • out of 10 funds
  • 5 YEAR
  • out of 10 funds
  • 1 YEAR
  • 4th
  • 26 out of 28 funds
  • 3 YEAR
  • 4th
  • 25 out of 25 funds
  • 5 YEAR
  • 4th
  • 23 out of 25 funds
  • 10 YEAR
  • 2nd
  • 8 out of 20 funds
  • SINCE INCEPTION
  • 2nd
  • 4 out of 9 funds

Ratings agency calculation methodology

Portfolio Managers

Taizo  Ishida photo
Taizo Ishida

Lead Manager

Michael J. Oh, CFA photo
Michael J. Oh, CFA

Co-Manager

Peeyush  Mittal, CFA photo
Peeyush Mittal, CFA

Co-Manager

Portfolio Characteristics

(as of 03/31/2023)
Fund Benchmark
Number of Positions 48 1,490
Weighted Average Market Cap $77.9 billion $87.6 billion
Active Share 84.4 n.a.
P/E using FY1 estimates 23.0x 13.3x
P/E using FY2 estimates 20.1x 12.3x
Price/Cash Flow 17.9 7.5
Price/Book 3.2 1.5
Return On Equity 6.2 14.8
EPS Growth (3 Yr) 20.7% 16.9%

Sources: Factset Research Systems, Inc.

Risk Metrics (3 Yr Return)

(as of 03/31/2023)
-6.71%
Alpha
1.13
Beta
100.77%
Upside Capture
129.47%
Downside Capture
0.02
Sharpe Ratio
-0.58
Information Ratio
12.52%
Tracking Error
72.53

Fund Risk Metrics are reflective of Investor share class.

Sources: Zephyr StyleADVISOR

Top 10 Holdings

(as of 04/30/2023)
Name Sector Country % Net Assets
PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Persero Tbk Financials Indonesia 5.3
HDFC Bank, Ltd. Financials India 4.6
Tencent Holdings, Ltd. Communication Services China/Hong Kong 4.5
BeiGene, Ltd. Health Care China/Hong Kong 4.2
Innovent Biologics, Inc. Health Care China/Hong Kong 4.0
Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. Health Care Japan 4.0
Sony Group Corp. Consumer Discretionary Japan 3.9
Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. Consumer Discretionary China/Hong Kong 3.8
Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co., Ltd. Industrials China/Hong Kong 3.5
H World Group, Ltd. Consumer Discretionary China/Hong Kong 3.4
TOTAL 41.2

Top 10 holdings may combine more than one security from the same issuer and related depositary receipts.

Source: BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Portfolio Breakdown (%)

(as of 03/31/2023)
  • Sector Allocation
  • Country Allocation
  • Market Cap Exposure
Sector Fund Benchmark Difference
Health Care 27.0 6.5 20.5
Consumer Discretionary 21.4 14.7 6.7
Financials 12.9 18.6 -5.7
Industrials 10.3 11.6 -1.3
Communication Services 9.5 8.9 0.6
Information Technology 7.9 17.6 -9.7
Consumer Staples 4.2 5.8 -1.6
Energy 2.8 2.9 -0.1
Materials 2.7 7.5 -4.8
Real Estate 0.0 3.7 -3.7
Utilities 0.0 2.0 -2.0
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 1.4 0.0 1.4

Sector data based on MSCI’s revised Global Industry Classification Standards. For more details, visit www.msci.com.

Country Fund Benchmark Difference
China/Hong Kong 38.1 24.8 13.3
Japan 35.2 32.0 3.2
India 10.1 8.3 1.8
Australia 4.9 11.1 -6.2
Indonesia 4.9 1.2 3.7
United States 3.0 0.0 3.0
Singapore 1.7 2.3 -0.6
Vietnam 0.6 0.0 0.6
Taiwan 0.0 9.6 -9.6
South Korea 0.0 7.6 -7.6
Thailand 0.0 1.4 -1.4
Malaysia 0.0 0.9 -0.9
Philippines 0.0 0.4 -0.4
New Zealand 0.0 0.3 -0.3
Macau 0.0 0.1 -0.1
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 1.4 0.0 1.4

Not all countries are included in the benchmark index(es).

Equity market cap of issuer Fund Benchmark Difference
Mega Cap (over $25B) 63.3 58.4 4.9
Large Cap ($10B-$25B) 10.5 22.1 -11.6
Mid Cap ($3B-$10B) 13.6 18.7 -5.1
Small Cap (under $3B) 11.2 0.8 10.4
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 1.4 0.0 1.4

Source: FactSet Research Systems.

Percentage values in data are rounded to the nearest tenth of one percent, so the values may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Percentage values may be derived from different data sources and may not be consistent with other Fund literature.

Distributions

Record Date Ex, Pay and
Reinvest Date
Ordinary
Income
Short Term
Capital Gains
Long Term
Capital Gains
Total Distributions
Per Share
% of NAV Nondividend Distribution (Return of Capital)
12/13/2022 12/14/2022 $0.00000 $0.00000 $0.57757 $0.57757 2.6% N.A.
View History

 

There is no guarantee that the Fund will pay or continue to pay distributions. 

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate with changing market conditions so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

Commentary

Period ended March 31, 2023

For the quarter ended March 31, 2023, the Matthews Asia Growth Fund returned 2.78% (Investor Class) and 2.80% (Institutional Class), while its benchmark, the MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index, returned 4.85% over the same period.

Market Environment:

Inflation remained the hot topic during the first quarter until concerns about select U.S.-based financials took over in early March. But overall, as was the case for much of the last year or so, investors seemed to focus narrowly on the anticipated actions of global central banks—particularly the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, heavily influencing Asian markets was the rather lackluster aftermath of China’s reopening. Whereas many expected a rapid resumption of normal activity, we’ve seen a much more gradual thawing—a pattern we expect to continue in the second quarter and beyond. As anecdotal evidence, we observed on a recent trip to Japan that Asian tourists from most other countries have returned—with the notable exception of China. This is largely because flights from China are still few and far between—and those available remain expensive. But a resumption of normal activity in and from China is largely a matter of time and with that normalization we anticipate improved economic activity, which should in turn positively impact markets.

Performance Contributors and Detractors:

Much of our underperformance during the quarter can be attributed to our China/Hong Kong exposure—both because of our overweight position and stock selection. Our lack of exposure to Taiwan and Korea, which both had solid first quarters, also weighed on relative performance. Conversely, our stock selections in Japan and Singapore were sources of relative strength as investors sought quality companies amid market volatility.

At the sector level, relative weakness was concentrated in our health-care exposure. After a sharply positive fourth quarter, many investors seemingly took some profits in the first quarter, resulting in a breather for the sector and many of its top performers. However, some company-specific issues aside, we don’t currently see any major reasons for concern in health care. Conversely, our underweight and relative strength of holdings in financials was additive to relative performance as the sector faced headwinds related to the U.S. banking flare-up.

At the holdings level, InnoCare Pharma and JD.com were among our bottom contributors. Shares of InnoCare, a Chinese biopharmaceuticals company, were pressured following news that U.S.-based peer Biogen was pulling out of a previously agreed licensing partnership. While this will leave InnoCare without a U.S. partnership we believe the underlying fundamentals remain intact and that InnoCare’s primary market opportunity is in China, not the U.S.

Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com declined as investors were disappointed with the slow pace of China’s reopening and economic recovery. However, we expect the recovery will still benefit JD.com in the period ahead. Further, JD.com could benefit from a transformation of its business similar to the breakup of Alibaba announced late in the quarter.

Among our top individual contributors were Japanese companies Keyence and Shin-Etsu Chemical. Keyence provides factory automation solutions while Shin-Etsu is a high-quality materials company. We believe both benefited from their quality in the period as investors sought relative safe havens amid market turbulence.

Notable Portfolio Changes:

We initiated several new positions in the first quarter, including Wuxi Biologics and Maruti Suzuki. We have owned Chinese biologics company Wuxi in the past—though we exited in early 2022 as the company was added to the U.S.’s unverified list (UVL) of exporters, which weighed on the stock. With those issues now resolved and the company’s underlying fundamentals intact, we reinitiated a position.

Maruti Suzuki is an Indian auto company and though we decreased our overall exposure to India in the period we believe Maruti Suzuki is well-positioned as the Indian auto market is in a distinctly better position than many global auto markets, including the U.S. and China. India’s economy remains relatively robust, as do its consumers, and Maruti Suzuki is poised to embark on a new model cycle which, paired with solid consumer demand, should benefit the stock in the period ahead.

Our paring of exposure to India included exiting small positions in e-commerce company Zomato and supermarket operator Avenue Supermarts. While we believe there are attractive, select opportunities in India, we find many valuations to be elevated and have consequently been reducing our overall exposure.

Outlook:

The market realized over the course of the first quarter, contrary to its prior belief, that China’s economy won’t take off quickly. But that doesn’t mean it won’t take off. We expect a gradual recovery in the Chinese market as consumers resume more normal economic activity.

The recent announcement that Alibaba would split into six companies is interesting—particularly as we see JD.com now trying to IPO its different brands too. China’s IPO market has been particularly weak lately. Perhaps this new path forward for large platform companies will reinvigorate the Chinese listing market—and, with it, China’s overall capital markets.

On the macroeconomic front, it seems inflationary concerns may finally be winding down—or at least tempering. Regardless, there will undoubtedly always be a macroeconomic ‘problem’ about which to worry and we expect the second quarter to be fine. Earnings will probably still be muted and investors may wait for June earnings before really deciding how they expect the year will pan out.

We believe the macro picture will start clearing up over the coming months and we also think investors will develop more realistic expectations on both the macro and earnings fronts. By the third quarter, we anticipate investors will largely have sorted their views out—which is why the first quarter felt primarily like a period of regrouping.

 

Top 10 holdings as of March 31, 2023. Current and future holdings are subject to change and risk.

Average Annual Total Returns - MPACX as of 03/31/2023
1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
-12.36% 1.31% -2.93% 3.61% 6.82% 10/31/2003

All performance quoted is past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate with changing market conditions so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the return figures quoted. Returns would have been lower if certain of the Fund's fees and expenses had not been waived. Please see the Fund's most recent month-end performance.

Fees & Expenses
Gross Expense Ratio 1.13%

Investments in Asian securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Investing in emerging and frontier markets involves different and greater risks, as these countries are substantially smaller, less liquid and more volatile than securities markets in more developed markets.

 

Visit our Glossary of Terms page for definitions and additional information.

Index Definitions

The information contained herein has been derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate at the time of compilation, but no representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any of this information. Neither the funds nor the Investment Advisor accept any liability for losses either direct or consequential caused by the use of this information.

The views and opinions in the commentary were as of the report date, subject to change and may not reflect current views. They are not guarantees of performance or investment results and should not be taken as investment advice. Investment decisions reflect a variety of factors, and the managers reserve the right to change their views about individual stocks, sectors, and the markets at any time. As a result, the views expressed should not be relied upon as a forecast of the Fund's future investment intent. It should not be assumed that any investment will be profitable or will equal the performance of any securities or any sectors mentioned herein. The information does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any securities mentioned.