Is Matthews India Fund (MINDX) a strong mutual fund pick right now?

Any investors hoping to find a Pacific Rim - Equity fund might consider looking past Matthews India Fund (MINDX - Free Report) . MINDX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

MINDX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.

History of Fund/Manager

Matthews Asia is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of MINDX. Matthews India Fund debuted in October of 2005. Since then, MINDX has accumulated assets of about $571.79 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Peeyush Mittal, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2018.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.51%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 10.18%, which places it in the middle 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 MINDX over the past three years is 12.18% compared to the category average of 12.62%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.85% compared to the category average of 13.89%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.44, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. MINDX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3.02, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, MINDX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.30% compared to the category average of 1.16%. MINDX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

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