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Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund
MIEFX

Snapshot
  • Portfolio construction incorporates a macroeconomic framework combined with fundamental analysis that drives stock selection
  • Dynamic portfolio exposure driven by a clear framework based on EPS growth and P/E analysis
  • Risk management controls overall beta exposure and key drivers of risk

04/30/2020

Inception Date

1.00%

YTD Return

(as of 04/23/2025)

$13.17

NAV

(as of 04/23/2025)

+0.14

1 Day NAV Change

(as of 04/23/2025)

Objective

Long-term capital appreciation

Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets, which include borrowings for investment purposes, in the common and preferred stocks of companies located in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries generally include every country in the world except the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and most of the countries in Western Europe. Certain emerging market countries may also be classified as “frontier” market countries, which are a subset of emerging market countries with newer or even less developed economies and markets, such as Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The list of emerging market countries and frontier market countries may change from time to time. The Fund may also invest in companies located in developed countries; however, the Fund may not invest in any company located in a developed country if, at the time of purchase, more than 20% of the Fund’s assets are invested in developed market companies.

Risks

Investments in emerging and frontier securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Additionally, investing in emerging and frontier markets countries are substantially smaller, less liquid and more volatile than securities markets in more developed markets.

These and other risks associated with investing in the Fund can be found in the prospectus.

Fund Facts
Inception Date 04/30/2020
Fund Assets $239.98 million (03/31/2025)
Currency USD
Ticker MIEFX
Cusip 577-130-644
Benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index
Geographic Focus Emerging Markets - Countries generally include every country in the world except the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and most of the countries in Western Europe
Fees & Expenses
Gross Expense Ratio 1.51%
Net Expense Ratio 0.90%

Performance

  • Monthly
  • Quarterly
  • Calendar Year
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As of 03/31/2025
Average Annual Total Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund - MIEFX
04/30/2020
MIEFX
-0.53% 1.69% 1.69% 8.76% 3.23% n.a. n.a. 9.57%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index
0.67% 3.01% 3.01% 8.65% 1.91% n.a. n.a. 6.61%
As of 03/31/2025
Average Annual Total Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund - MIEFX
04/30/2020
MIEFX
-0.53% 1.69% 1.69% 8.76% 3.23% n.a. n.a. 9.57%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index
0.67% 3.01% 3.01% 8.65% 1.91% n.a. n.a. 6.61%
For the years ended December 31st
Name 2024 2023 2022 2021
Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund - MIEFX
MIEFX
11.38% 8.63% -20.81% -0.43%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (USD)
8.05% 10.27% -19.74% -2.22%

Source: BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc. All performance is in US$.

Year to Date and Since Inception performance with less than one year of history represents actual performance, not annualized.

Assumes reinvestment of all dividends and/or distributions before taxes. All performance quoted represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate with market conditions so that when redeemed, shares may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the return figures quoted. Returns would have been lower if certain of the Fund’s fees and expenses had not been waived. Performance differences between the Institutional class and the Investor class may arise due to differences in fees charged to each class.

Additional performance, attribution, liquidity, value at risk (VaR), security classification and holdings information is available on request for certain time periods.

Ratings

  • OVERALL
  • out of 714 funds
  • 3 YEAR
  • out of 714 funds

Ratings agency calculation methodology

Portfolio Managers

Sean  Taylor photo
Sean Taylor

Lead Manager

Andrew  Mattock, CFA photo
Andrew Mattock, CFA

Co-Manager

Peeyush  Mittal, CFA photo
Peeyush Mittal, CFA

Co-Manager

Jeremy  Sutch, CFA photo
Jeremy Sutch, CFA

Co-Manager

Portfolio Characteristics

(as of 03/31/2025)
Fund Benchmark
Number of Positions 82 1,206
Weighted Average Market Cap $173.2 billion $160.7 billion
Active Share 68.9 n.a.
P/E using FY1 estimates 13.1x 12.4x
P/E using FY2 estimates 11.5x 11.1x
Price/Cash Flow 7.4 8.0
Price/Book 2.0 1.8
Return On Equity 18.0 17.8
EPS Growth (3 Yr) 15.6% 11.4%

Sources: Factset Research Systems, Inc.

Top 10 Holdings

(as of 03/31/2025)
Name Sector Country % Net Assets
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Information Technology Taiwan 7.5
Tencent Holdings, Ltd. Communication Services China/Hong Kong 6.5
HDFC Bank, Ltd. Financials India 3.2
ICICI Bank, Ltd. Financials India 3.2
Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. Consumer Discretionary China/Hong Kong 3.1
JD.com, Inc. Consumer Discretionary China/Hong Kong 3.1
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Information Technology South Korea 2.8
Mahindra & Mahindra, Ltd. Consumer Discretionary India 2.0
Meituan Class B Consumer Discretionary China/Hong Kong 1.9
NetEase, Inc. Communication Services China/Hong Kong 1.8
TOTAL 35.1

Top 10 holdings may combine more than one security from the same issuer and related depositary receipts.

Source: BNY Mellon Investment Servicing (US) Inc.

Portfolio Breakdown (%)

(as of 03/31/2025)
  • Sector Allocation
  • Country Allocation
  • Market Cap Exposure
Sector Fund Benchmark Difference
Financials 26.2 24.3 1.9
Consumer Discretionary 19.7 14.6 5.1
Information Technology 17.3 21.7 -4.4
Communication Services 12.9 10.3 2.6
Industrials 3.3 6.3 -3.0
Real Estate 3.2 1.7 1.5
Consumer Staples 2.8 4.7 -1.9
Health Care 1.9 3.3 -1.4
Energy 1.3 4.5 -3.2
Materials 1.0 5.9 -4.9
Utilities 0.0 2.6 -2.6
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 10.3 0.0 10.3

Sector data based on MSCI’s revised Global Industry Classification Standards. For more details, visit www.msci.com.

Country Fund Benchmark Difference
China/Hong Kong 36.0 31.4 4.6
India 16.1 18.5 -2.4
South Korea 12.2 9.0 3.2
Taiwan 11.6 16.8 -5.2
Singapore 3.2 0.0 3.2
South Africa 2.2 3.2 -1.0
Brazil 2.0 4.4 -2.4
Philippines 1.4 0.5 0.9
United Arab Emirates 1.2 1.4 -0.2
Indonesia 1.2 1.2 0.0
Thailand 0.9 1.2 -0.3
United States 0.9 0.0 0.9
Macau 0.5 0.0 0.5
Mexico 0.1 1.9 -1.8
Turkey 0.1 0.6 -0.5
Saudi Arabia 0.0 4.1 -4.1
Malaysia 0.0 1.3 -1.3
Poland 0.0 1.0 -1.0
Kuwait 0.0 0.8 -0.8
Qatar 0.0 0.8 -0.8
Greece 0.0 0.6 -0.6
Chile 0.0 0.5 -0.5
Hungary 0.0 0.3 -0.3
Peru 0.0 0.3 -0.3
Czech Republic 0.0 0.2 -0.2
Colombia 0.0 0.1 -0.1
Egypt 0.0 0.1 -0.1
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 10.3 0.0 10.3

Not all countries are included in the benchmark index(es).

Equity market cap of issuer Fund Benchmark Difference
Mega Cap (over $25B) 64.9 59.4 5.5
Large Cap ($10B-$25B) 14.9 22.1 -7.2
Mid Cap ($3B-$10B) 7.8 18.2 -10.4
Small Cap (under $3B) 2.1 0.4 1.7
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 10.3 0.0 10.3

Source: FactSet Research Systems.

Percentage values in data are rounded to the nearest tenth of one percent, so the values may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Percentage values may be derived from different data sources and may not be consistent with other Fund literature.

Risk Metrics (3 Yr Return)

(as of 03/31/2025)
0.93%
Alpha
0.91
Beta
91.15%
Upside Capture
89.54%
Downside Capture
-0.08
Sharpe Ratio
0.20
Information Ratio
5.76%
Tracking Error
89.34

Fund Risk Metrics are reflective of Investor share class.

Sources: Zephyr StyleADVISOR

Distributions

Record Date Ex, Pay and
Reinvest Date
Ordinary
Income
Short Term
Capital Gains
Long Term
Capital Gains
Total Distributions
Per Share
% of NAV Nondividend Distribution (Return of Capital)
12/17/2024 12/18/2024 $0.14819 $0.00000 $0.00000 $0.14819 1.1% N.A.
12/13/2023 12/14/2023 $0.24670 $0.00000 $0.00000 $0.24670 2.1% N.A.
12/13/2022 12/14/2022 $0.23132 $0.00000 $0.00000 $0.23132 2.0% N.A.
12/14/2021 12/15/2021 $0.21671 $0.68627 $0.43302 $1.33600 8.7% N.A.
12/15/2020 12/16/2020 $0.02114 $0.35583 $0.00000 $0.37697 2.4% N.A.

 

There is no guarantee that the Fund will pay or continue to pay distributions. 

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate with changing market conditions so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.

Commentary

Period ended March 31, 2025

Market Environment

  • Emerging markets performed better than expected in the first quarter of 2025 thanks in part to a more favorable macro environment. Many investors had expected the strength in the dollar and U.S. equity market to continue into 2025 and contribute to a weaker performance in the asset class but that didn’t happen.
  • At the country level, performance was mixed. China, Brazil and Mexico led the markets higher while Taiwan and India faced pressure. China technology shares were buoyed by the success of the DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) platform which in turn spurred a selloff in U.S. big tech stocks and negatively impacted Taiwan, a market that is almost a direct play in a narrow area of technology driven by AI.
  • India’s market was challenged as earnings disappointed amid softening economic growth caused by weaker government spending and tight monetary policy. In more peripheral markets, Southeast Asia should have benefited from a weakening U.S. dollar but was hurt by political disruption while Latin America delivered robust returns supported by the macro environment.
  • As the quarter progressed, optimism toward emerging markets as whole receded as U.S. economic data deteriorated and concerns gathered over the prospect of new far-ranging reciprocal U.S. tariffs and a trade-related global economic slowdown.

Contributors and Detractors

  • For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, the Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund returned 1.69%, (Investor Class) and 1.69% (Institutional Class) while its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, returned 3.01% over the same period.
  • On a country basis, the top three contributors to relative performance were Taiwan due to an overweight allocation, South Korea due to stock selection and Malaysia due to zero allocation. The top three detractors were India due to an underweight allocation and stock selection, and United Arab Emirates and Brazil due to stock selection.
  • On a sector basis, the top two contributors to relative performance were real estate due to stock selection and industrials due to an underweight allocation and stock selection. The top three detractors were materials due to an underweight allocation, information technology (IT) due to stock selection and communication services due to an overweight allocation and stock selection.
  • The largest contributors to absolute performance included Alibaba Group, the largest e-commerce platform company in China, Tencent Holdings, a Chinese online gaming and social media conglomerate, and SK Hynix, a South Korean supplier of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips. The top three detractors included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), a globally leading chipmaker, Infosys, a leading Indian consulting company, and Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian auto and farm equipment manufacturer.

Outlook

  • Front and center to our outlook is the impact of U.S. tariffs on the global economy and markets. The Trump administration’s tariff policy has shown itself to be fluid and unpredictable. We may see some new tariffs rolled back in certain markets and a different picture coming into focus in the coming weeks and months.
  • At this point, what we can conclude is that from a U.S. perspective, the administration’s tariff policy is growth negative and inflation positive. It probably means that inflation stays around 3% and that has implications for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy and in turn for emerging markets.
  • When the global economy is under pressure, we believe domestic drivers are more important than global drivers. For Asia, that means we need to be cautious of markets that are correlated to the U.S. and of companies that are selling into the US. Domestic demand-driven markets like India and China, which rely less on the global economy, we think will be more resilient.
  • We believe emerging markets will be supported by a pick-up in earnings on valuations that are still cheap. Thus, we think there are opportunities for experienced active managers to pick their spots and focus on fundamentals.

 

Top 10 holdings as of March 31, 2025. Current and future holdings are subject to change and risk.

 

Average Annual Total Returns - MIEFX as of 03/31/2025
1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
8.76% 3.23% N.A. N.A. 9.57% 04/30/2020

All performance quoted is past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate with changing market conditions so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the return figures quoted. Returns would have been lower if certain of the Fund's fees and expenses had not been waived. For the Fund's most recent month-end performance visit matthewsasia.com

Fees & Expenses
Gross Expense Ratio 1.51%
Net Expense Ratio 0.90%

Matthews has contractually agreed to waive fees and reimburse expenses to limit the Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses until April 30, 2025. Please see the Fund’s prospectus for additional details.

Investments in emerging and frontier securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Additionally, investing in emerging and frontier markets countries are substantially smaller, less liquid and more volatile than securities markets in more developed markets.

 

Visit our Glossary of Terms page for definitions and additional information.

Index Definitions

The information contained herein has been derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate at the time of compilation, but no representation or warranty (express or implied) is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any of this information. Neither the funds nor the Investment Advisor accept any liability for losses either direct or consequential caused by the use of this information.

The views and opinions in the commentary were as of the report date, subject to change and may not reflect current views. They are not guarantees of performance or investment results and should not be taken as investment advice. Investment decisions reflect a variety of factors, and the managers reserve the right to change their views about individual stocks, sectors, and the markets at any time. As a result, the views expressed should not be relied upon as a forecast of the Fund's future investment intent. It should not be assumed that any investment will be profitable or will equal the performance of any securities or any sectors mentioned herein. The information does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any securities mentioned.