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Is Matthews China Small Companies Investor (MCSMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at Matthews China Small Companies Investor (MCSMX - Free Report) . MCSMX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Matthews Asia is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of MCSMX. Since Matthews China Small Companies Investor made its debut in May of 2011, MCSMX has garnered more than $347.76 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Winnie Chwang and Andrew Mattock.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 25%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 34.26%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Over the past three years, MCSMX's standard deviation comes in at 19.05%, compared to the category average of 18.33%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.65% compared to the category average of 15.69%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.53, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 15.41, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, MCSMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.41% compared to the category average of 1.40%. So, MCSMX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Matthews China Small Companies Investor ( MCSMX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about MCSMX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Matthews China Small Companies Investor (MCSMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at Matthews China Small Companies Investor (MCSMX - Free Report) . MCSMX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Matthews Asia is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of MCSMX. Since Matthews China Small Companies Investor made its debut in May of 2011, MCSMX has garnered more than $347.76 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Winnie Chwang and Andrew Mattock.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 25%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 34.26%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Over the past three years, MCSMX's standard deviation comes in at 19.05%, compared to the category average of 18.33%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.65% compared to the category average of 15.69%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.53, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 15.41, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, MCSMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.41% compared to the category average of 1.40%. So, MCSMX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Matthews China Small Companies Investor ( MCSMX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about MCSMX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.