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Is Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Pacific Rim - Equity fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX - Free Report) at this time. MPACX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Pacific Rim - Equity funds is an area filled with options, such as MPACX. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds usually invest in companies with a big presence in the export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese companies since Japan mutual funds are incredibly popular.
History of Fund/Manager
Matthews Asia is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of MPACX. The Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor made its debut in October of 2003 and MPACX has managed to accumulate roughly $524.08 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Taizo Ishida who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2007.
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 6.28%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.99%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.72%, the standard deviation of MPACX over the past three years is 14.71%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.72% compared to the category average of 11.53%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, MPACX lost 53.63% and outperformed its peer group by 4.22%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.89, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.56. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, MPACX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.07% compared to the category average of 1.35%. So, MPACX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor ( MPACX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Pacific Rim - Equity 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Pacific Rim - Equity fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor (MPACX - Free Report) at this time. MPACX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Pacific Rim - Equity funds is an area filled with options, such as MPACX. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds usually invest in companies with a big presence in the export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese companies since Japan mutual funds are incredibly popular.
History of Fund/Manager
Matthews Asia is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of MPACX. The Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor made its debut in October of 2003 and MPACX has managed to accumulate roughly $524.08 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Taizo Ishida who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2007.
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 6.28%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.99%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.72%, the standard deviation of MPACX over the past three years is 14.71%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.72% compared to the category average of 11.53%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, MPACX lost 53.63% and outperformed its peer group by 4.22%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.89, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.56. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, MPACX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.07% compared to the category average of 1.35%. So, MPACX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Matthews Asia Growth Fund Investor ( MPACX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Pacific Rim - Equity 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.