Matthews shareholder service. Yup. The Matthews funds made money for me. But service to shareholders was, in my experience, patience-trying. Bottom of the barrel. I even got YELLED at. In addition, more than once, (BNY/Mellon "service providers" for Matthews) the agent chose to ARGUE rather than to facilitate. Another time or two, a great deal of exasperation could have been avoided if I was offered a quick explanation. Or, perhaps the underlying problem is that the agent didn't KNOW ENOUGH to be able to explain what I needed to know. That should surprise no one, if it were the case...Shameless, the way they stick people in a chair with a phone, and just say: "OK, now SWIM."
...And now this latest: I owned MACSX in taxable. Cashed-in all shares sometime after the New Year. No problem. Surely, the tax statement will come, early next year. I forget when the statement came, confirming the transaction.
I held MAPIX, MEASX and MAINX in IRA. Transferred it all to TRP. I received a confirmation from Matthews in early February, but ONLY with info. re: MAPIX, not the other two.
I called a few days ago and explained that I had owned 3 funds, but was in possession of a statement pertaining to only one of them. The agent asserted that statements were sent re: all three of them. (Then why did only ONE reach me? You can't blame the USPS here, in this case--- which is what a great many of them like to do.)
After making sure to communicate to me that there was no problem at THEIR end, the snooty agent promised to send statements for the other two: MEASX and MAINX. (I recall referring to "the bond fund." She said, "I don't see a bond fund here. I see Strategic Income." Duh. I replied: "That IS the bond fund.")
So, an item came today, from Matthews. It is a statement pertaining only to MEASX. Yup.
"You couldn't hit water if you fell out of a blankety-blank boat."
---Crash Davis to Nuke LaLoosh in "Bull Durham."
Sold MAPIX. After the Q4 distribution fiasco, I gave some time to think this one over. The fund has done well in the past and the recent rough patch has affected other funds in that sector as well. The two manager losses may have been more than the company could handle. So I sold my shares at today's market close. The funds will be consolidated into other funds I own.
I still own MAINX. Teresa Kong has proved to be not only a top fund manager in a difficult area, but she communicates with her shareholders. In fact I had received a email regarding a question on MAINX last year and the response was very good.
A difficult decision but it appears that MAPIX may be changing into something I didn't invest in for in the first place. If one doesn't have confidence in the management of the fund, then what else is there?
I sold this fund earlier than you, but for the same reasons. I completely understand your reasoning behind this move. IMHO, the volatility of the fund increased and the manager changes were not to my liking.
Sold MAPIX. After the Q4 distribution fiasco, I gave some time to think this one over. The fund has done well in the past and the recent rough patch has affected other funds in that sector as well. The two manager losses may have been more than the company could handle. So I sold my shares at today's market close. The funds will be consolidated into other funds I own.
I still own MAINX. Teresa Kong has proved to be not only a top fund manager in a difficult area, but she communicates with her shareholders. In fact I had received a email regarding a question on MAINX last year and the response was very good.
A difficult decision but it appears that MAPIX may be changing into something I didn't invest in for in the first place. If one doesn't have confidence in the management of the fund, then what else is there?
A Portfolio Review Question I agree with
@Old_Joe. I am fascinated by reading some of that visionary stuff. Sometimes you can get the feeling that the person is spot on and other times it doesn't make sense as you read it. Gundlach is making a reputation as being a visionary. The labor issues have been talked about before. I am not expert enough on Fed issues to understand the what and why of their policies.
Commentaries like this make you look again at your portfolio and your plans to make sure you are on track.
A couple of sentences stood out at me. "
Be long the dollar, especially in emerging market bonds."
MAINX has been known to short dollar instruments lately. Wonder what that might do to the fund if Gundlach is correct?
"
Stay away from homebuilders, TIPs and mortgage REITs, and oil will fall further." I had just took some money off the table with ARYVX. It has had a good run. I'm going to keep an eye on that fund.
Thanks
@dex for that comment.
Matthews Asia @MikeM, I am just considering it. I do hope Mr. Horrocks will have more details when the commentaries come out. It would be pretty sad to learn he was eating Thansgiving turkey while this was going on.
I emailed Matthews the evening prior to Thanksgiving so I do not expect any reply until Monday at the very earliest.
One thing I learned early on is to never make decisions under emotional stress. As I recommended to MaxB, I take a step back and ponder on things for a while. Just by coincidence, I have been looking at my position in
MAINX and considering closing that out to go into another fund.
MAPIX 4Q pay-out regarding MAINX, I found it interesting in the geographical listings that Cayman Islands is number 2 with 18.51% of the portfolio.
MAPIX 4Q pay-out
MAPIX 4Q pay-out Hello, JC! Reassuring, thanks. And your final remark helps me understand why MAINX is not tracking so much higher, along with some other bond funds. M* has it in a "World Bond" category. I think they just didn't bother to look under the hood! My EM bond fund is PREMX, + ytd 6.75%. My domestic bond fund is DLFNX, up + ytd by 6.28%.
MAPIX 4Q pay-out The manager situation with MAPIX doesn't bother me at all. M* might be programmed to deduct points on any managerial change but in this case, Robert Horrocks took charge and has been overseeing the fund himself. Yu Zhang has been with Matthews since 2007. The third guy is relatively new having joined Matthews in 2011. In my opinion, Matthews runs a very tight ship.
MEASX has been a good surprise this year. Max, you made a good decision buying that fund. MAINX will show it's worth when interest rates rise and US bond funds get affected.
Matthews Asia I own MAPIX, MAINX, MACSX and MEASX. (MAPIX and MEASX are the two biggest. The other positions are considerably smaller.) I find the commentaries to be well-written, meaning that they are not BORING. I sometimes read the gratuitous commentaries offered on their webpage. My impression is that they tend to look at the Big Picture, and do not "miss the forest for the trees." But I agree with you: it is palpably all upbeat, and particulars don't get much attention. Just my humble opinion. I'm disappointed that MAPIX will offer no 4Q pay-out in 2014!
Matthews Asia Thanks to quite a few discussions here I've become a bigger fan of Matthews Asia and have added to investments I had previously (MAPIX), made investments in new funds that fit my needs (MEASX) and started tracking funds that I find interesting and/or possible future additions to my portfolio (MSMLX, MAINX).
When I read their literature, which I do on a regular basis as I suspect many others do because most of it is kindly linked here, I'm excited about the opportunities in Asia. I'm also aware that they don't write much that's negative about Asia and in many cases they take on what they apparently consider misperceptions about Asia. They have recently defended China's property market, China's growth prospects and they have suggested that China's perceived protectionism is a healthy aspect of financial reform.
While I don't disagree with many of their points I continue to worry a little that they have an incentive to market arguments that are supportive of their funds rather than a purely objective analysis of each topic. I would welcome any thoughts about Matthews' literature, investing in Asia generally or any other related topics.
Morningstar's Portfolio Manager Price Updating Concern ... JohnChisum, thank you. .....I'm back again looking at my portfolio, as well as other things. Of course, by now, at midnight (Fri-Sat) the numbers are updated--- though for some, "rank in category" are not updated: DLFNX MAPIX MAINX MEASX SFGIX TRAMX (although the category it is put into at Morningstar is a non-category.) PREMX PRESX NAESX. How much does Morningstar want to pay me for pointing out what it needs to do, I wonder? I can't use an app. No cell phone. Don't want one. :)
Max, they want specifics......if you call them, the rep will go to your portfolio(s) and address all your specific concerns. The more specific details you can give them about your account and portfolio, what issues came up and when/what time, the better. You can send them screenshots documenting issues, via email, while the rep is on the phone with you, etc.
Morningstar's Portfolio Manager Price Updating Concern ... JohnChisum, thank you. .....I'm back again looking at my portfolio, as well as other things. Of course, by now, at midnight (Fri-Sat) the numbers are updated--- though for some, "rank in category" are not updated: DLFNX MAPIX MAINX MEASX SFGIX TRAMX (although the category it is put into at Morningstar is a non-category.) PREMX PRESX NAESX. How much does Morningstar want to pay me for pointing out what it needs to do, I wonder? I can't use an app. No cell phone. Don't want one. :)
