Matthews Asia Announces UCITS Launch of Emerging Market Fund Suite

Matthews Asia has launched a suite of Emerging Market Funds that provide investors with the ability to customize their Emerging Market exposure. Mirroring the firm’s strategies available to U.S. investors, they are the Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund (ISIN LU2651608080), Emerging Markets ex China Equity Fund (ISIN LU2651608247), Emerging Markets Discovery Fund (ISIN LU2651608676). All three Funds are categorized as Article 8 under SFDR.

Managed by Lead Portfolio Managers John Paul Lech and Alex Zarechnak, with support from co-managers Andrew Mattock and Peeyush Mittal, the Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund uses a fundamental, bottom-up investment approach to build a core, quality-growth all-cap portfolio of 30 to 70 companies.  The investment team typically look for companies that have higher growth metrics, as well as higher quality metrics, than the broader market with a focus on firms that can serve the growing needs of domestic consumers within their market.

The Matthews Emerging Markets ex China Equity Fund is a concentrated all-cap portfolio of 30 to 70 stocks that provides investors with the ability to separate China from their core emerging markets allocation, either to avoid exposure or have more control using a dedicated China strategy. The Fund employs the same bottom-up stock-picking strategy as the Matthews Emerging Markets Fund and is also managed by the same lead portfolio managers with support from co-manager Peeyush Mittal.

The Matthews Emerging Markets Discovery Fund provides investors with the ability to complement their current emerging market allocation with a portfolio that invests in small companies that often have more innovative and entrepreneurial business models. The Fund invests in 40 to 80 small companies across the Emerging Markets, typically early in their lifecycle, holding them as they capitalize on structural growth trends in large addressable markets. The Fund is managed by Lead Portfolio Manager Vivek Tanneeru with support from co-managers Jeremy Sutch and Alex Zarechnak.

Cooper Abbott, CEO of Matthews Asia commented: “In our discussions with institutions and wealth managers, a growing number are looking to build customized exposures to Emerging Markets and have greater control over a core allocation. Matthews’ launch of these Emerging Market Funds gives the power of choice to sophisticated investors, allowing us to deepen partnerships with clients in Europe and Asia and for them to leverage our firm’s capabilities to construct highly distinct, actively-managed portfolios.”

Neil Steedman, Head of International Distribution: “Emerging markets can offer investors the biggest potential for long-term growth over many other assets classes. With a combination of large populations, higher economic growth, rising wages and productivity, a shift toward sophisticated services and consumption and deepening capital markets, they will continue to create new and attractive investment opportunities for investors. We are pleased to offer our proven approach to stock-picking and portfolio construction to investors who seek more distinct emerging markets exposures.”

*Expected TER is estimated and may not be representative of the actual fees applicable to the above-named funds. Fees stated herein may not be consistent with other fund literature and have been provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon when deciding whether or not to invest.

Risk Considerations

The value of an investment in the Fund can go down as well as up and possible loss of principal is a risk of investing. Investments in international and emerging market securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. The Fund invests in holdings denominated in foreign currencies, and is exposed to the risk that the value of the foreign currency will increase or decrease. The Fund invests primarily in equity securities, which may result in increased volatility. The Fund invests in smaller companies, which are more volatile and less liquid than larger companies. Pandemics and other public health emergencies can result in market volatility and disruption. These and other risks associated with investing in the Fund can be found in the Prospectus.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Matthews Asia

Matthews is an independent, privately owned investment manager founded in 1991 on a belief that Emerging Markets offers exceptional long-term growth potential. As a trusted and experienced guide to these markets, the firm takes a long-term fundamental investment approach in order to construct highly differentiated portfolios that focus on Emerging Markets, Asia and China. The firm manages assets on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally in vehicles that include SMAs, mutual funds and active ETFs. For more information about Matthews, please visit matthewsasia.com.

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