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Matthews Japan Fund
MJFOX

Snapshot
  • High-conviction growth strategy seeks alpha in Japan
  • Unconstrained all-cap approach seeking Japanese companies positioned to benefit from Asia's growth
  • Invests in companies leveraged to the fast growing consumer demand across Asia, global industry leaders and entrepreneurial companies providing innovative domestic solutions

12/31/1998

Inception Date

-0.40%

YTD Return

(as of 04/17/2025)

$19.95

NAV

(as of 04/17/2025)

+0.42

1 Day NAV Change

(as of 04/17/2025)

Objective

Long-term capital appreciation

Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Matthews Japan 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 Japan. The Fund seeks to invest in companies capable of sustainable growth based on the fundamental characteristics of those companies, including balance sheet information; number of employees; size and stability of cash flow; management’s depth, adaptability and integrity; product lines; marketing strategies; corporate governance; and financial health.

Risks

Investments in Asian securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. In addition, investments in a single-country fund, which is considered a non-diversified fund, may be subject to a higher degree of market risk than diversified funds because of concentration in a specific country.

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

Fund Facts
Inception Date 12/31/1998
Fund Assets $608.66 million (03/31/2025)
Currency USD
Ticker MJFOX
Cusip 577-130-800
Benchmark MSCI Japan Index
Geographic Focus Japan
Fees & Expenses
Gross Expense Ratio 1.09%

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 Japan Fund - MJFOX
12/31/1998
MJFOX
0.20% 0.70% 0.70% 1.64% 5.97% 8.45% 5.81% 5.91%
MSCI Japan Index
0.31% 0.50% 0.50% -1.74% 5.68% 9.20% 5.63% 4.05%
As of 03/31/2025
Average Annual Total Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Japan Fund - MJFOX
12/31/1998
MJFOX
0.20% 0.70% 0.70% 1.64% 5.97% 8.45% 5.81% 5.91%
MSCI Japan Index
0.31% 0.50% 0.50% -1.74% 5.68% 9.20% 5.63% 4.05%
For the years ended December 31st
Name 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Matthews Japan Fund - MJFOX
MJFOX
16.38% 17.99% -27.85% -1.92% 29.82% 26.08% -20.18% 33.14% 0.40% 20.83%
MSCI Japan Index (USD)
8.68% 20.77% -16.31% 2.04% 14.91% 20.07% -12.58% 24.39% 2.73% 9.90%

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

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.

Growth of a Hypothetical $10,000 Investment Since Inception

(as of 03/31/2025)

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

The performance data and graph do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on dividends, capital gain distributions or redemption of fund shares.

Ratings

  • OVERALL
  • out of 36 funds
  • 3 YEAR
  • out of 36 funds
  • 5 YEAR
  • out of 31 funds
  • 10 YEAR
  • out of 23 funds

Ratings agency calculation methodology

Portfolio Managers

Shuntaro  Takeuchi photo
Shuntaro Takeuchi

Lead Manager

Donghoon  Han photo
Donghoon Han

Lead Manager

Portfolio Characteristics

(as of 03/31/2025)
Fund Benchmark
Number of Positions 47 183
Weighted Average Market Cap $61.9 billion $63.2 billion
Active Share 58.5 n.a.
P/E using FY1 estimates 15.7x 14.1x
P/E using FY2 estimates 14.4x 13.2x
Price/Cash Flow 11.6 9.4
Price/Book 1.7 1.4
Return On Equity 12.6 11.6
EPS Growth (3 Yr) 10.3% 8.7%

Sources: Factset Research Systems, Inc.

Risk Metrics (3 Yr Return)

(as of 03/31/2025)
0.44%
Alpha
1.10
Beta
118.20%
Upside Capture
113.10%
Downside Capture
0.08
Sharpe Ratio
0.05
Information Ratio
5.81%
Tracking Error
90.63

Fund Risk Metrics are reflective of Investor share class.

Sources: Zephyr StyleADVISOR

Top 10 Holdings

(as of 03/31/2025)
Name Sector % Net Assets
Sony Group Corp. Consumer Discretionary 6.6
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Financials 4.7
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. Financials 4.4
Hitachi, Ltd. Industrials 4.2
Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. Financials 3.6
NEC Corp. Information Technology 3.5
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. Consumer Staples 3.3
ITOCHU Corp. Industrials 3.1
Toyota Motor Corp. Consumer Discretionary 3.0
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. Real Estate 3.0
TOTAL 39.4

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
  • Market Cap Exposure
Sector Fund Benchmark Difference
Industrials 20.9 22.9 -2.0
Consumer Discretionary 19.2 18.3 0.9
Financials 17.3 17.3 0.0
Information Technology 14.2 13.0 1.2
Health Care 7.9 7.6 0.3
Consumer Staples 6.7 5.4 1.3
Materials 5.1 3.6 1.5
Communication Services 3.2 7.7 -4.5
Real Estate 3.0 2.4 0.6
Utilities 0.0 1.0 -1.0
Energy 0.0 0.9 -0.9
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 2.4 0.0 2.4

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

Equity market cap of issuer Fund Benchmark Difference
Mega Cap (over $25B) 57.4 66.3 -8.9
Large Cap ($10B-$25B) 24.8 23.5 1.3
Mid Cap ($3B-$10B) 8.3 10.3 -2.0
Small Cap (under $3B) 7.1 0.0 7.1
Cash and Other Assets, Less Liabilities 2.4 0.0 2.4

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.

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 $0.42505 $0.00000 $0.00000 $0.42505 2.0% N.A.
12/13/2022 12/14/2022 $0.00000 $0.00000 $1.07119 $1.07119 6.5% N.A.
12/14/2021 12/15/2021 $0.23596 $0.32236 $2.18705 $2.74537 11.1% N.A.
12/15/2020 12/16/2020 $0.13240 $0.00000 $2.43277 $2.56517 10.5% N.A.
12/16/2019 12/17/2019 $0.11960 $0.00000 $1.73617 $1.85577 8.6% 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

  • Sentiment toward Japanese equities was impacted by concerns that a stronger Japanese yen, along with rising interest rates, may dampen export demand. We are mindful, however, that Japan is less dependent on exports than it was in the past. More and more, Japanese companies conducting business abroad are doing so through direct investment in subsidiaries or in international partnerships.
  • Japanese companies’ earnings were generally robust in the quarter; stock buybacks and increasing dividend yields eased but continued to support total returns. Equity valuations have retracted back to long-term averages, which also helped support stock prices.
  • During the period, we found opportunities in quality domestic businesses shielded from negative tariff sentiment in areas like communication services, consumer discretionary, health care, industrials and real estate.

Contributors and Detractors

  • For the quarter ended March 31, 2025, the Matthews Japan Fund returned 0.70%, (Investor Class) and 0.70% (Institutional Class) while its benchmark, the MSCI Japan Index, returned 0.50% over the same period.
  • On a sector basis, the top three contributors to relative performance were consumer discretionary, information technology (IT) and communication services due to stock selection. The top three detractors were consumer staples due to stock selection, utilities and energy due to zero allocation.
  • The largest contributors to absolute performance included Sony, an electronics company, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a leading financial firm, and NEC, an IT company. The top three detractors included Recruit Holdings, a human resources (HR) company, Tokyo Electron, an electronics and semiconductor company, and Shin-Etsu Chemical, a chemicals company.

Outlook

  • Japan’s macro and external outlook is mixed. As a global cyclical economy, Japan depends on sectors such as autos and consumer electronics. Many Japanese companies also have production hubs in Southeast Asia. Thus, U.S. tariffs, whether directly and indirectly impacting Japan, could be a significant influence on market sentiment.
  • That said, Japan’s history of direct investing in the U.S., particularly in autos, and its capacity to reduce its trade surplus through increased spending in areas like defense, may render it less exposed to U.S. tariffs than other major global economies.
  • Japan also has a large and diverse domestic economy with robust levels of demand that is not exposed to global headwinds. Ongoing Japanese wage negotiations could serve as a potential tailwind for demand, supporting domestic consumption and corporate earnings.
  • In our view, selective stock picking remains key—to identify companies with strong earnings outlooks and good dividend yields, supported by stock buybacks and attractive valuations.

 

View the Fund’s Top 10 holdings as of March 31, 2025. Current and future holdings are subject to change and risk.

Average Annual Total Returns - MJFOX as of 03/31/2025
1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
1.64% 5.97% 8.45% 5.81% 5.91% 12/31/1998

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 1.09%

Investments in Asian securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. In addition, investments in a single-country fund, which is considered a non-diversified fund, may be subject to a higher degree of market risk than diversified funds because of concentration in a specific country.

 

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.