Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund (MSMLX)

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The chart shows the growth of an initial investment of $10,000 in Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund, comparing it to the performance of the S&P 500 index or another benchmark. All prices have been adjusted for splits and dividends.

Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund (MSMLX) has returned -0.43% so far this year and 15.42% over the past 12 months. Over the last ten years, MSMLX has returned 9.25% per year, falling short of the S&P 500 Index benchmark, which averaged 12.16% annually.

Based on dividend-adjusted daily data since Sep 15, 2008, MSMLX's average daily return is +0.05%, while the average monthly return is +0.97%. At this rate, your investment would double in approximately 6.0 years.

Historically, 59% of months were positive and 41% were negative. The best month was May 2009 with a return of +22.5%, while the worst month was Oct 2008 at -21.3%. The longest winning streak lasted 11 consecutive months, and the longest losing streak was 5 months.

On a daily basis, MSMLX closed higher 53% of trading days. The best single day was May 18, 2009 with a return of +7.7%, while the worst single day was Mar 16, 2020 at -9.3%.

Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund has an annualized alpha of 4.29%, beta of 0.62, and R² of 0.49 versus S&P 500 Index. Calculated based on daily prices since September 16, 2008.

• This fund participates in less of S&P 500 Index's moves in both directions, but captures a larger share of gains (83.65%) than losses (80.61%) — typical of diversified or defensive assets.
• Beta of 0.62 may look defensive, but with R² of 0.49 this fund is largely uncorrelated with S&P 500 Index — low beta reflects independence, not downside protection. See the Volatility section for a true picture of this fund's risk.
• R² of 0.49 means the benchmark explains less than half of this fund's behavior — treat beta with caution or consider switching to a more representative benchmark.

MSMLX has a high expense ratio of 1.37%, indicating above-average management fees.

MSMLX ranks 31 for risk / return — below 31% of mutual funds on our site. The returns aren't fully compensating for the risk involved. This isn't necessarily a dealbreaker, but factor it into your decision — especially if you're risk-averse.

The table below present risk-adjusted performance metrics for Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund (MSMLX) and compare them to a chosen benchmark (S&P 500 Index).

Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund provided a 1.50% dividend yield over the last twelve months, with an annual payout of $0.39 per share.

The table displays the monthly dividend distributions for Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund. The dividends shown in the table have been adjusted to account for any splits that may have occurred.

The Drawdowns chart displays portfolio losses from any high point along the way. Drawdowns are calculated considering price movements and all distributions paid, if any.

The table below displays the maximum drawdowns of the Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund. A maximum drawdown is a measure of risk, indicating the largest reduction in portfolio value due to a series of losing trades.

The maximum drawdown for the Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund was 36.40%, occurring on Nov 20, 2008. Recovery took 114 trading sessions.

The current Matthews Emerging Markets Small Companies Fund drawdown is 12.89%.

The chart below shows the rolling one-month volatility.