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Matthews Asia Discovery Fund

Portfolio Positioning

Effective 30 August 2024, the Fund was renamed from the Asia Small Companies Fund to the Asia Discovery Fund.

  • Seeks alpha in innovative, capital efficient entrepreneurial companies in Asia ex Japan
  • Focus on firms that have a strong competitive advantage through pricing power, distribution capability, and/or differentiated technologies and services
  • Bias toward businesses that cater to rising domestic consumer demand

30/04/2013

Inception Date

8.47%

YTD Return (USD)

(as of 04/10/2024)

$24.21

NAV (USD)

(as of 04/10/2024)

+0.27

1 Day NAV Change

(as of 04/10/2024)

Objective

Seeks to achieve long term capital appreciation.

Sustainability

The Fund promotes environmental and social characteristics according to Article 8 of SFDR. Furthermore, the Fund uses both activity- and norm-based exclusions. Information relating to the environmental and social characteristics of this Fund is available in the prospectus.

Strategy

The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, directly or indirectly, at least 65% of its total net assets, in equities of small companies located in the Asia ex Japan Region, and may invest in other permitted assets on worldwide. The Fund defines Small Companies as companies with market capitalization no higher than the greater of US $5 billion or the market capitalization of the largest company included in the Fund's primary benchmark, the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index.

Risks

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, emerging and frontier market securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation, which may adversely affect the value of the Fund's assets. 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.

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

Fund Facts
Inception Date 30/04/2013
Fund Assets $137.12 million (31/08/2024)
Base Currency USD
ISIN: LU0871674296 (USD) LU0871674379 (GBP) LU0871674023 (EUR)
Bloomberg Symbol MATASCI:LX (USD) MATASSI:LX (GBP) MAASCIE:LX (EUR)
Benchmark MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index
Geographic Focus Asia Ex Japan: Consists of all countries and markets in Asia, excluding Japan but including all developed, emerging and frontier countries and markets in Asia
SFDR Classification Article 8
Fees & Expenses
Management Fee 1.00%
Total Expense Ratio 1.15% ( USD ) 1.15% ( GBP ) 1.15% ( EUR )

Performance

  • Monthly
  • Quarterly
  • Calendar Year
  • Rolling 12 Month
    Returns
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As of 31/08/2024
Annualized Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (USD)
1.58% 3.99% 3.90% 6.28% 0.43% 13.63% 7.06% 7.70% 30/04/2013
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (USD)
2.21% 5.66% 10.56% 17.76% 3.03% 12.77% 5.36% 5.63%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (GBP)
-1.10% 0.32% 0.25% 2.24% 1.96% 11.86% 9.56% 10.43% 30/04/2014
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (GBP)
-0.10% 2.35% 7.24% 13.54% 4.63% 11.07% 7.85% 8.60%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (EUR)
-0.73% 1.88% 3.60% 4.23% 2.67% n.a. n.a. 8.61% 30/12/2020
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (EUR)
-0.08% 3.62% 10.34% 15.46% 5.26% n.a. n.a. 10.84%
As of 30/06/2024
Annualized Returns
Name 1MO 3MO YTD 1YR 3YR 5YR 10YR Since Inception Inception Date
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (USD)
3.14% 4.50% 3.05% 7.48% 0.93% 12.88% 7.33% 7.74% 30/04/2013
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (USD)
3.53% 7.77% 8.34% 21.20% 2.26% 10.67% 5.48% 5.53%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (GBP)
3.74% 4.49% 3.67% 7.53% 4.09% 12.98% 10.59% 10.98% 30/04/2014
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (GBP)
4.28% 7.70% 9.25% 21.89% 5.33% 10.82% 8.72% 8.95%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (EUR)
4.67% 5.62% 6.43% 9.10% 4.56% n.a. n.a. 9.89% 30/12/2020
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (EUR)
4.87% 8.60% 11.66% 23.37% 5.77% n.a. n.a. 11.78%
For the years ended December 31st
Name 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (USD)
11.27% -14.49% 22.19% 46.12% 17.53% -14.53% 30.80% -1.09% -11.08% 11.14%
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (USD)
22.09% -19.93% 21.23% 26.60% 7.58% -18.63% 33.84% -2.05% -3.28% 2.56%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (GBP)
5.26% -4.17% 23.80% 41.22% 14.03% -9.84% 19.38% 18.87% -6.49% n.a.
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (GBP)
15.20% -9.84% 22.35% 22.69% 3.43% -13.57% 22.25% 16.83% 2.32% n.a.
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (EUR)
7.48% -9.25% 32.41% n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (EUR)
17.96% -14.68% 30.44% n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
For the period ended 30/06/2024
Name 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 Inception Date
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (USD)
7.48% 7.54% -11.04% 55.78% 14.42% 30/04/2013
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (USD)
21.20% 9.83% -19.67% 62.52% -4.46%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (GBP)
7.53% 3.00% 1.84% 37.86% 18.39% 30/04/2014
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (GBP)
21.89% 4.92% -8.63% 45.36% -1.59%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (EUR)
9.10% 2.99% 1.73% n.a. n.a. 30/12/2020
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (EUR)
23.37% 5.25% -8.88% n.a. n.a.

Source: Brown Brothers Harriman (Luxembourg) S.C.A.

All returns over 1 year are annualized

Since inception performance for share classes with less than one year of history represents actual performance, not annualised. In addition, for share classes less than a year old, Year to Date Return is calculated since inception. Where no past performance is shown there was insufficient data available in that year to provide performance.

Performance details provided are based on a NAV-to-NAV basis with any dividends reinvested, and are net of management fees and other expenses. Performance data has been calculated in the respective currencies stated above, including ongoing charges and excluding subscription fee and redemption fee you might have to pay.

All performance quoted represents past performance and is not indicative of future performance. Investors may not get back the full amount invested. Investors investing in funds denominated in non-local currency should be aware of the risk of currency exchange fluctuations that may cause a loss of principal.

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

Portfolio Characteristics

(as of 31/08/2024)
Fund Benchmark
Number of Positions 62 1,707
Weighted Average Market Cap $4.6 billion $2.3 billion
Active Share 98.6 n.a.
P/E using FY1 estimates 18.2x 15.7x
P/E using FY2 estimates 15.5x 13.4x
Price/Cash Flow 14.0 9.3
Price/Book 2.4 1.5
Return On Equity 9.2 11.8
EPS Growth (3 Yr) 22.5% 17.9%

Sources: Factset Research Systems, Inc.

Risk Metrics (3 Yr Return)

(as of 31/08/2024)
-2.44%
Alpha
0.88
Beta
66.05%
Upside Capture
82.43%
Downside Capture
-0.19
Sharpe Ratio
-0.32
Information Ratio
8.01%
Tracking Error
76.36

Fund Risk Metrics are reflective of Class I USD ACC shares.

Sources: Zephyr StyleADVISOR

Top 10 Holdings

(as of 31/08/2024)
Name Sector Country % Net Assets
Bandhan Bank, Ltd. Financials India 7.1
Shriram Finance, Ltd. Financials India 6.2
Legend Biotech Corp. Health Care China/Hong Kong 4.9
Hugel, Inc. Health Care South Korea 4.3
Phoenix Mills, Ltd. Real Estate India 3.7
Full Truck Alliance Co., Ltd. Industrials China/Hong Kong 3.6
Silergy Corp. Information Technology China/Hong Kong 3.1
Inox Wind, Ltd. Industrials India 3.0
UNO Minda, Ltd. Consumer Discretionary India 2.8
Finolex Cables, Ltd. Industrials India 2.7
TOTAL 41.4

Top 10 holdings may combine more than one security from the same issuer and related depositary receipts.
Source: Brown Brothers Harriman (Luxembourg) S.C.A

Portfolio Breakdown (%)

(as of 31/08/2024)
  • Sector Allocation
  • Country Allocation
  • Market Cap Exposure
Sector Fund Benchmark Difference
Information Technology 24.6 19.9 4.7
Industrials 21.5 18.7 2.8
Consumer Discretionary 15.9 11.3 4.6
Financials 14.9 9.6 5.3
Health Care 13.2 9.5 3.7
Real Estate 5.8 8.1 -2.3
Consumer Staples 2.8 5.1 -2.3
Communication Services 1.7 3.7 -2.0
Materials 1.0 10.0 -9.0
Utilities 0.0 2.4 -2.4
Energy 0.0 1.5 -1.5
Liabilities in Excess of Cash and Other Assets -1.5 0.0 -1.5

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

Country Fund Benchmark Difference
India 35.5 34.4 1.1
China/Hong Kong 28.1 12.9 15.2
Taiwan 18.4 25.2 -6.8
South Korea 10.0 13.3 -3.3
Vietnam 4.5 0.0 4.5
Philippines 2.3 0.9 1.4
Indonesia 1.1 2.0 -0.9
Thailand 0.9 3.3 -2.4
Bangladesh 0.6 0.0 0.6
United States 0.2 0.0 0.2
Singapore 0.0 5.0 -5.0
Malaysia 0.0 3.0 -3.0
Liabilities in Excess of Cash and Other Assets -1.5 0.0 -1.5

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

Equity market cap of issuer Fund Benchmark Difference
Mega Cap (over $25B) 0.0 0.0 0.0
Large Cap ($10B-$25B) 14.8 0.0 14.8
Mid Cap ($3B-$10B) 41.6 26.9 14.7
Small Cap (under $3B) 45.0 73.1 -28.1
Liabilities in Excess of Cash and Other Assets -1.5 0.0 -1.5

The Portfolio’s market cap exposure breakdown presented is used for comparison purposes and the definition of the capitalization breakdown is from MSCI.

The Fund defines Small Companies as companies with market capitalization no higher than the greater of US$5 billion or the market capitalization of the largest company included in the Fund's primary benchmark, the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index.

Source: FactSet Research Systems unless otherwise noted.
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.

ESG Characteristics

(as of 30/06/2024)
  • Business Involvement
  • Sustainability Attributes
Name Fund Benchmark Difference
Controversial Weapons
Fund Coverage: 100% Benchmark Coverage: 98%
0.0 0.5 -0.5
Tobacco
Fund Coverage: 100% Benchmark Coverage: 98%
0.0 0.2 -0.2
Name Fund Benchmark Difference
UN Global Compact Violators
Fund Coverage: 100% Benchmark Coverage: 97%
0.0 0.1 -0.1
Board Diversity
Fund Coverage: 100% Benchmark Coverage: 97%
18.5 16.4 2.1

Board Diversity: Represents the weighted average ratio of female board members in investee companies.
Tobacco: Represents companies that generate more than 5% of revenue from tobacco manufacturing exposure to or production or that generate more than 50% of revenue from tobacco retail. 
UN Global Compact Violators: Represents companies that have been assessed as failing to comply with the 10 United Nations Global Compact Principles by ISS-ESG Norms-Based Research. Different ESG research providers may come to different conclusions on the severity of the violation.
Controversial weapons include companies with involvement in the following: anti-personnel mines; biological and chemical weapons; cluster weapons; depleted uranium; nuclear weapons and white phosphorus. A company is excluded if it is directly involved in the production, selling and/or distribution of (parts of) controversial weapons and this involvement concerns the core weapon system, or components/services of the core weapon system that are tailor-made and essential for the lethal use of the weapon.

Source: Sustainalytics, Factset, MSCI, Matthews Asia.

GHG Intensity

(as of 30/06/2024)

Fund Coverage: 99%; Benchmark Coverage: 89% as of 30/06/2024

GHG Intensity: Represents the normalized portfolio’s total weighted average (scope 1 + scope 2) carbon emissions intensity, using the most recently available data (emissions data from 2020, 2021). Carbon intensity represents the issuer’s total carbon emissions per EUR million of revenue (tCO2e divided by EUR million in revenue).

Source: Sourced from ISS ESG. Where not covered by external data providers, we have tried to source these data points.

Sustainability-related Disclosures

This Fund Yes No
Complies with Article 8 of SFDR  
Investment process integrates ESG factors and sustainability risks based on proprietary and third-party research  
Applies norms- and activity-based exclusions  
Promotes environmental and social characteristics  
Has a sustainable investment objective  
Conducts engagement  
Exercises Voting Rights  

Investors should not invest in the Fund solely based on the information in this material alone. Please refer to the Prospectus for further details of the Fund’s investment objective and risk factors.

For more information, please refer to our Responsible Investment and Stewardship Policy and our ESG-Related Investment Policy of Matthews Asia Funds.

Ratings

  • OVERALL
  • 3 YEAR
  • 5 YEAR
  • 10 YEAR
(as of 25/07/2024)

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. High ratings and rankings does not assure favorable performance.

Overall Morningstar RatingTM is reflective of the noted share class. Fund ratings represent an opinion only and are not a recommendation to buy or sell any fund. Copyright ©2023 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is provided for reference purposes only.

The Overall Morningstar®️ Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted-average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and (if applicable) ten-year ratings.

Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

Portfolio Managers

Vivek  Tanneeru photo
Vivek Tanneeru

Lead Manager

Jeremy  Sutch, CFA photo
Jeremy Sutch, CFA

Co-Manager

Hardy  Zhu photo
Hardy Zhu

Co-Manager

Commentary

Period ended 30 June 2024

Market Environment

  • Markets in the region performed largely in line with our expectations in the second quarter, with Taiwan, India and China delivering positive performances. Inflation on the whole is not as high as in developed markets and in the absence of rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve, a lot of positive performance was driven by fundamentals and earnings growth.
  • The expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain, led by large U.S. tech firms, was another supportive theme, particularly for semiconductor hubs in Asia. The quarter also saw volatility in India’s market triggered by Prime Minister Modi’s failure to win a majority in the national elections which sparked worries that the economic strategy of the country could be challenged.
  • Looking more closely at the region, Taiwan was driven by demand for hardware from the U.S. while South Korea experienced weakness in cyclical sectors, and in certain areas—including electric vehicles (EV) and EV battery making—oversupply has hurt prices and equity performance. Chinese equities, meanwhile, performed well despite ongoing economic challenges, helped by the government’s attempt to stabilize the real estate market and a cyclical pickup in some sectors.
  • Indian equities recovered from the market’s negative reaction to the election result when it became clear that Modi would form a coalition with allies. Indian local bonds also had their inaugural inclusion in the JPMorgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) index, which is expected to add significant foreign investor inflows in coming quarters.

Contributors and Detractors

  • For the quarter ended June 30, 2024, the Asia Small Companies Fund returned 4.5%, (I Acc USD) while its benchmark, the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index, returned 7.77% over the same period.
  • On a country basis, the top three contributors to relative performance were Singapore due to zero allocation, Taiwan and India due to stock selection. The top three detractors were China/Hong Kong due to stock selection, Philippines due to an overweight allocation and the U.S. due to an off-benchmark allocation.
  • On a sector basis, the top three contributors to relative performance were real estate, financials and information technology (IT) due to stock selection. The top three detractors were industrials, consumer discretionary and health care due to stock selection.
  • The largest contributors to absolute performance included Shriram Finance, an Indian financial services provider, Finolex Cables, an electrical products company, and Phoenix Mills, an Indian retail stores operator. The top three detractors to performance included Flat Glass Group, a Chinese glass products manufacturer, Zhihu, a Chinese online content company, and Legend Biotech, a global, commercial-stage biophama company.

Outlook

  • Post-COVID growth in the region is starting to come through and broaden out and this will pave the way for consistent earnings growth over the next few years, in our view. We also see more upside to equity performance driven by North Asia and underpinned by earnings growth and a widening of AI-related adoption. In South Korea, capital reform initiatives are welcome though we see them having more of a longer-term impact on values.
  • Markets in the region should also benefit from the onset of a monetary easing cycle in the U.S. and the decline in the value of the U.S. dollar that would likely bring, in our view. In India, we think the market will continue to progress though it is still expensive. Under the new coalition government, we may see spending on growth spread out beyond infrastructure and CapEx which could yield more opportunities in consumption.
  • In China, we are cognizant to potential catalysts for growth and to potential headwinds, such as increased volatility as we approach the U.S. presidential election in November.
  • We believe small companies in Asia offer long-term growth opportunities given their innovation and domestic consumption orientation while also being less exposed to regulatory and geo-political risks.

 

Rolling 12 Month Returns For the period ended 30/06/2024 - I (Acc)
Name 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 Inception Date
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (USD)
7.48% 7.54% -11.04% 55.78% 14.42% 30/04/2013
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (USD)
21.20% 9.83% -19.67% 62.52% -4.46%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (GBP)
7.53% 3.00% 1.84% 37.86% 18.39% 30/04/2014
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (GBP)
21.89% 4.92% -8.63% 45.36% -1.59%
Matthews Asia Discovery Fund (EUR)
9.10% 2.99% 1.73% N.A. N.A. 30/12/2020
MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index (EUR)
23.37% 5.25% -8.88% N.A. N.A.

Sources: Brown Brothers Harriman (Luxembourg) S.C.A, Matthews Asia, FactSet Research Systems, Bloomberg

To find documents in additional languages, please visit the Fund Literature page in our Resources section.

Performance figures discussed in the Fund Manager Commentary above reflect that of the Institutional Accumulation Class Shares and has been calculated in USD. Performance details provided for the Fund are based on a NAV-to-NAV basis, with any dividends reinvested, and are net of management fees and other expenses. Past performance information is not indicative of future performance. Investors may not get back the full amount invested.

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. Matthews Asia and its affiliates do not accept any liability for losses either direct or consequential caused by the use of this information.

Information contained herein is sourced from Matthews Asia unless otherwise stated. The views and opinions in this commentary were as of the report date, subject to change and may not reflect the writer’s 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.

Investors should not invest in the Fund solely based on the information in this material alone. Please refer to the Prospectus for further details of the risk factors. 

Index Definitions