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Is Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Pacific Rim - Equity fund category, Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX - Free Report) could be a potential option. MPACX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
MPACX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.
History of Fund/Manager
MPACX finds itself in the Matthews Asia family, based out of San Francisco, CA. Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor made its debut in October of 2003, and since then, MPACX has accumulated about $152.84 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Michael Oh, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2020.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.68%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 22.46%, which places it in the top 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. MPACX's standard deviation over the past three years is 23.86% compared to the category average of 13.96%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.04% compared to the category average of 16.62%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.89, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. MPACX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -7.7, 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, MPACX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.30% compared to the category average of 1.02%. MPACX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note, that according to our data, the fund does not have any minimum investment requirements.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor ( MPACX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about MPACX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Pacific Rim - Equity fund category, Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX - Free Report) could be a potential option. MPACX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
MPACX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.
History of Fund/Manager
MPACX finds itself in the Matthews Asia family, based out of San Francisco, CA. Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor made its debut in October of 2003, and since then, MPACX has accumulated about $152.84 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Michael Oh, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2020.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.68%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 22.46%, which places it in the top 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. MPACX's standard deviation over the past three years is 23.86% compared to the category average of 13.96%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.04% compared to the category average of 16.62%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.89, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. MPACX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -7.7, 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, MPACX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.30% compared to the category average of 1.02%. MPACX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note, that according to our data, the fund does not have any minimum investment requirements.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor ( MPACX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about MPACX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.