It looks like we'll be able to talk a bit on Thursday of this week, and I was wondering if you had questions for Ms. Kong? The fund will reach its third anniversary by Thanksgiving and get its first (likely misleading) Morningstar rating by year's end. It has about $64 million in assets (including several thousand of my own very personal dollars). The fund is hard to benchmark since Asia-oriented income funds for American investors are rare. That said, it's clubbed its one active competitor (Aberdeen Asia Bond AEEAX), the WisdomTree Asia Local Debt ETF (ALD), and its "world bond" peer group both cumulatively and in each year since inception.
My list of possible questions:
you've added a third co-manager, which is unusual for a fund so small. What role does she play or what special expertise does she bring to the party?
does the fund's modest size reflect a conscious decision on Matthews' part to wait before promoting the fund, either until it has a three year record or until some particular market condition is met? If not, what's been restraining the fund's growth? Or is its size inconsequential?
investors in US and European bonds are pondering when to panic. Managers are often shortening durations and dabbling in other income-producing investments in order to gain a partial shield from interest rate risks. How does that macro activity impact the case for Asia fixed income?
If you've got questions for Teresa (other than "why are you shorting Treasuries?" which she's repeatedly said is a form of portfolio hedge, primarily against currency fluctuation in the portion of her holdings which is dollar-denominated), come on down!
David
Comments
Thanks