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Is Matthews Asia Innovators Investor (MATFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Sector - Tech fund category, make sure to pass over Matthews Asia Innovators Investor (MATFX - Free Report) . MATFX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that MATFX is a Sector - Tech option, and this area is loaded with many options. Found in a wide number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, tech companies are everywhere. Thus, Sector - Tech mutual funds that invest in technology let investors own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector, but with a much more diversified approach.
History of Fund/Manager
Matthews Asia is responsible for MATFX, and the company is based out of San Francisco, CA. Matthews Asia Innovators Investor debuted in December of 1999. Since then, MATFX has accumulated assets of about $202.04 million, according to the most recently available information. J. Michael Oh is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2006.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.32%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 21.05%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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. MATFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 15.77% compared to the category average of 12.49%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21.54% compared to the category average of 15.77%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.52, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. MATFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -5.39, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, MATFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.31% compared to the category average of 1.07%. So, MATFX 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.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Matthews Asia Innovators Investor ( MATFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Matthews Asia Innovators Investor ( MATFX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Tech segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Matthews Asia Innovators Investor (MATFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Sector - Tech fund category, make sure to pass over Matthews Asia Innovators Investor (MATFX - Free Report) . MATFX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that MATFX is a Sector - Tech option, and this area is loaded with many options. Found in a wide number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, tech companies are everywhere. Thus, Sector - Tech mutual funds that invest in technology let investors own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector, but with a much more diversified approach.
History of Fund/Manager
Matthews Asia is responsible for MATFX, and the company is based out of San Francisco, CA. Matthews Asia Innovators Investor debuted in December of 1999. Since then, MATFX has accumulated assets of about $202.04 million, according to the most recently available information. J. Michael Oh is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2006.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 1.32%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 21.05%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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. MATFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 15.77% compared to the category average of 12.49%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21.54% compared to the category average of 15.77%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.52, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. MATFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -5.39, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, MATFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.31% compared to the category average of 1.07%. So, MATFX 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.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Matthews Asia Innovators Investor ( MATFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Matthews Asia Innovators Investor ( MATFX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Tech segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.