Is Matthews Asia Dividend Fund Investor (MAPIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Pacific Rim - Equity fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Matthews Asia Dividend Fund Investor (MAPIX). MAPIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.ObjectiveMAPIX 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.History of Fund/ManagerMatthews Asia is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of MAPIX. Matthews Asia Dividend Fund Investor made its debut in October of 2006, and since then, MAPIX has accumulated about $266.88 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Sojung Park, has been in charge of the fund since March of 2025.PerformanceObviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MAPIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 1.36%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 14.82%, 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 MAPIX over the past three years is 14.26% compared to the category average of 13.64%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.01% compared to the category average of 14.92%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.Risk FactorsInvestors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.6, 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. MAPIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -8.93, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.ExpensesFor investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, MAPIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.26% compared to the category average of 0.90%. So, MAPIX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.Bottom LineOverall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Matthews Asia Dividend Fund Investor ( MAPIX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.Don't stop here for your research on Pacific Rim - Equity funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare MAPIX to its peers as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. Little-known AI firms tackling the world's biggest problems may be more lucrative in the coming months and years.See "2nd Wave" AI stocks now >>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 (MAPIX): Fund Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks
Quelle: Zacks