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Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund
MACSX

Snapshot
  • Seeks upside participation while aiming to provide some downside protection in Asia ex Japan
  • Utilize income-paying equities and convertible bonds to help mitigate downside risk and volatility
  • Offers a relatively stable means of participating in Asia’s long-term growth

09/12/1994

Inception Date

-0.80%

YTD Return

(as of 04/18/2024)

$12.47

NAV

(as of 04/18/2024)

+0.08

1 Day NAV Change

(as of 04/18/2024)

Objective

Long-term capital appreciation with some current income.

Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets, which include borrowings for investment purposes, in dividend-paying common stock, preferred stock and other equity securities, and convertible securities as well as fixed-income securities, of any duration or quality, of companies located in Asia. The Fund attempts to offer investors a relatively stable means of participating in a portion of the Asian region’s growth prospects, while providing some downside protection, in comparison to a portfolio that invests purely in common stocks. The strategy of owning convertible bonds and dividend-paying equities is designed to help the Fund to meet its investment objective while helping to reduce the volatility of its portfolio.

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 09/12/1994
Fund Assets $305.15 million (03/31/2024)
Currency USD
Ticker MACSX
Cusip 577-130-206
Portfolio Turnover 12.0%
Benchmark MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan 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 03/31/2024
Average Annual Total Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund - MACSX
09/12/1994
MACSX
0.72% 0.87% 0.87% -1.45% -5.94% 0.90% 1.85% 7.58%
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index
2.58% 2.44% 2.44% 4.36% -6.52% 2.27% 4.49% 4.18%
As of 03/31/2024
Average Annual Total Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund - MACSX
09/12/1994
MACSX
0.72% 0.87% 0.87% -1.45% -5.94% 0.90% 1.85% 7.58%
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index
2.58% 2.44% 2.44% 4.36% -6.52% 2.27% 4.49% 4.18%
For the years ended December 31st
Name 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund - MACSX
MACSX
3.33% -18.43% 0.04% 16.00% 17.26% -10.96% 21.85% 1.34% -4.50% -0.65%
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index
6.34% -19.36% -4.46% 25.36% 18.52% -14.12% 42.08% 5.76% -8.90% 5.11%

MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Index since inception value calculated from 8/31/94.

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 03/31/2024)

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.

Yield

(as of 03/31/2024)
2.32% 30-Day SEC Yield
2.32% 30-Day SEC Yield (excluding expense waiver)
3.25% Dividend Yield

Dividend Yield (trailing) Source: FactSet Research Systems, Bloomberg, Matthews
30-Day SEC Yield Source: BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Ratings

  • OVERALL
  • out of 47 funds
  • 3 YEAR
  • out of 47 funds
  • 5 YEAR
  • out of 46 funds
  • 10 YEAR
  • out of 33 funds
  • 1 YEAR
  • 3rd
  • 24 out of 39 funds
  • 3 YEAR
  • 1st
  • 9 out of 38 funds
  • 5 YEAR
  • 3rd
  • 22 out of 37 funds
  • 10 YEAR
  • 4th
  • 23 out of 24 funds
  • SINCE INCEPTION
  • 1st
  • 1 out of 4 funds

Ratings agency calculation methodology

Portfolio Managers

Robert J. Horrocks, PhD photo
Kenneth  Lowe, CFA photo
Kenneth Lowe, CFA

Lead Manager

Siddharth  Bhargava photo
Siddharth Bhargava

Co-Manager

Elli  Lee photo
Elli Lee

Co-Manager

Portfolio Characteristics

(as of 03/31/2024)
Fund Benchmark
Number of Positions 46 1,182
Weighted Average Market Cap $142.7 billion $139.1 billion
Active Share 76.4 n.a.
Price/Cash Flow 9.7 8.4
Price/Book 2.2 1.6
Return On Equity 18.7 14.2
EPS Growth (3 Yr) 8.9% 12.6%

Sources: Factset Research Systems, Inc.

Risk Metrics (3 Yr Return)

(as of 03/31/2024)
-0.60%
Alpha
0.88
Beta
80.55%
Upside Capture
88.57%
Downside Capture
-0.49
Sharpe Ratio
0.12
Information Ratio
4.91%
Tracking Error
93.93

Fund Risk Metrics are reflective of Investor share class.

Sources: Zephyr StyleADVISOR

Top 10 Holdings

(as of 03/31/2024)
Name Sector Country % Net Assets
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Information Technology Taiwan 9.6
Tencent Holdings, Ltd. Communication Services China/Hong Kong 5.1
HDFC Bank, Ltd. Financials India 4.1
AIA Group, Ltd. Financials China/Hong Kong 4.0
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Information Technology South Korea 3.7
Tata Consultancy Services, Ltd. Information Technology India 2.7
Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund Financials South Korea 2.5
Bank of the Philippine Islands Financials Philippines 2.3
Advantech Co., Ltd. Information Technology Taiwan 2.3
HKT Trust & HKT, Ltd. Communication Services China/Hong Kong 2.2
TOTAL 38.5

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 03/31/2024)
  • Sector Allocation
  • Country Allocation
  • Asset Type Breakdown
  • Market Cap Exposure
Sector Fund Benchmark Difference
Information Technology 23.4 27.4 -4.0
Financials 20.5 20.2 0.3
Industrials 12.8 7.7 5.1
Communication Services 12.0 9.1 2.9
Consumer Discretionary 9.6 13.5 -3.9
Consumer Staples 7.3 4.4 2.9
Real Estate 5.3 2.6 2.7
Health Care 3.0 3.6 -0.6
Utilities 2.2 2.7 -0.5
Materials 2.0 4.7 -2.7
Energy 0.0 4.0 -4.0
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 1.7 0.0 1.7

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 38.9 34.1 4.8
Taiwan 15.8 20.4 -4.6
India 13.8 20.6 -6.8
South Korea 9.6 14.9 -5.3
Singapore 7.8 3.6 4.2
France 3.2 0.0 3.2
Philippines 2.3 0.7 1.6
Indonesia 2.1 2.2 -0.1
New Zealand 1.9 0.0 1.9
United States 1.6 0.0 1.6
Thailand 1.3 1.8 -0.5
Malaysia 0.0 1.6 -1.6
Macau 0.0 0.2 -0.2
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 1.7 0.0 1.7

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

Asset Type Fund
Common Equities and ADRs 88.6
Convertible Bonds 9.7
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 1.7
Equity market cap of issuer Fund Benchmark Difference
Mega Cap (over $25B) 52.4 60.4 -8.0
Large Cap ($10B-$25B) 15.1 21.0 -5.9
Mid Cap ($3B-$10B) 16.7 17.7 -1.0
Small Cap (under $3B) 14.1 0.9 13.2
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 1.7 0.0 1.7

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)
12/13/2023 12/14/2023 $0.17871 $0.00000 $0.00000 $0.17871 1.5% N.A.
06/27/2023 06/28/2023 $0.16500 $0.00000 $0.00000 $0.16500 1.3% 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, 2024

Market Environment

  • The first quarter of the year was a period of contrast across markets in Asia. In particular, markets linked to technology, communication services and the global supply chains of semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) benefited while other interest-rate sensitive areas were held back by a reset in expectations as to the trajectory of U.S. Federal Reserve cuts. In terms of markets, Taiwan and India were the strongest performing markets while China/Hong Kong struggled. 
  • India outperformed the broad emerging markets though there was some consolidation over concerns regarding elevated valuations. Unique characteristics underpinning India’s elevated valuations include having one of the world’s highest nominal GDP growth rates supported by higher-than-market earnings growth and a long runway of powerful demographics and wage growth.
  • Taiwan did well thanks to its exposure to global supply chains in technology. Its strong ties to the rapidly growing contribution of generative AI to economies and world trade helped.
  • Chinese stocks were volatile in the first quarter but rebounded from January’s sell-off as investors weighed positive statements from the Chinese government regarding its 5% GDP growth target, efforts to underpin the local stock markets via ETF purchases and green shoots of improvement in corporate earnings revisions. Nevertheless, the market still ended the period in negative territory. 

Contributors and Detractors

  • For the quarter ended March 31, 2024, the Asian Growth and Income Fund returned 0.87% (Investor Class) and 0.88% (Institutional Class) while its benchmark, the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index, returned 2.44% over the same period.
  • The top three contributors to relative performance, on a country basis, were the U.S. due to an off-benchmark allocation, and South Korea and Thailand due to stock selection. The top three detractors to relative performance were India due to an underweight allocation and stock selection, China/Hong Kong due to an overweight allocation, and Taiwan due to an underweight allocation.
  • The top three contributors to relative performance, on a sector basis, were information technology (IT) and industrials due to stock selection, and materials due to an underweight allocation. The top three detractors to relative performance were financials and utilities due to stock selection, and energy due to zero allocation.
  • The three largest contributors to absolute performance during the quarter included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, a leading Taiwanese chip manufacturer, Midea Group, a Chinese electrical appliances manufacturer, and LEENO Industrial, a South Korean manufacturer of critical testing components for integrated circuit production. The top three detractors to performance included AIA Group, a pan-Asian insurance services provider, HDFC Bank, a leading Indian bank and financial services company, and Guangdong Investment, a Chinese infrastructure company.

Outlook

  • The outlook for the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve’s pace of interest rate adjustments remains an input in determining the pathway for markets in the near term, particularly with regards to its impact on currencies as inflation appears somewhat sticky and economic data robust. Any weakening of the U.S. dollar may be helpful for risk assets such as emerging markets.
  • Within Asia, we continue to remain concerned around some of the short and medium-term challenges that China faces including private sector and consumer sentiment, the weak property market, and geopolitical tensions. However, market expectations appear downbeat and valuations are reasonable, potentially providing some support.
  • For the region broadly, valuations appear reasonable, and earnings growth is expected to be robust.


Top 10 holdings as of March 31, 2024. Current and future holdings are subject to change and risk.

 

Average Annual Total Returns - MACSX as of 03/31/2024
1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
-1.45% -5.94% 0.90% 1.85% 7.58% 09/12/1994

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%
Yields as of 03/31/2024
30-Day SEC Yield 2.32%
30-Day SEC Yield (excluding expense waiver) 2.32%
Dividend Yield 3.25%

The 30-Day SEC Yield represents net investment income earned by the Fund over the 30-day period ended 03/31/2024, expressed as an annual percentage rate based on the Fund’s share price at the end of the 30-day period. The 30-Day SEC Yield should be regarded as an estimate of the Fund’s rate of investment income, and it may not equal the Fund’s actual income distribution rate. Source: BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Dividend Yield (trailing) is the weighted average sum of the dividends paid by each equity security held by the Fund over the last 12 months divided by the current price as of report date. The annualised dividend yield is for the equity-only portion of the Fund and does not reflect the actual yield an investor in the Fund would receive. There can be no guarantee that companies that the Fund invests in, and which have historically paid dividends, will continue to pay them or to pay them at the current rates in the future. A positive distribution yield does not imply positive return, and past yields are no guarantee of future yields.

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.