Is Matthews China Small Companies Investor (MCSMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Pacific Rim – Equity fund? Starting with Matthews China Small Companies Investor (MCSMX) should not be a possibility at this time. MCSMX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
MCSMX is one of many Pacific Rim – Equity funds to choose from. Pacific Rim – Equity mutual funds typically invest in companies throughout the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. Since Japan mutual funds are already popular in their own right, these Pacific funds will usually invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese companies.
Matthews Asia is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of MCSMX. Matthews China Small Companies Investor debuted in May of 2011. Since then, MCSMX has accumulated assets of about $47.01 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MCSMX has a 5-year annualized total return of -6.44% 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 -6.78%, which places it in the bottom 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. The standard deviation of MCSMX over the past three years is 28.71% compared to the category average of 21.41%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund’s standard deviation is 25.69% compared to the category average of 19.56%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.47, which means it is hypothetically 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 -12.18. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, MCSMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.40% compared to the category average of 1.13%. MCSMX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Overall, Matthews China Small Companies Investor ( MCSMX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Matthews China Small Companies Investor ( MCSMX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on MCSMXin the Pacific Rim – Equity category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. And don’t forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Get Your Free (MCSMX): Fund Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).