servicing their markets. Asia ex Japan
consists of all countries and markets in Asia excluding Japan, but including other developed, emerging, and frontier countries and markets in the Asian region. Certain emerging market countries
may also be classified as “frontier” market countries, which are a subset of emerging market countries with newer or even less developed economies and markets, such as Sri Lanka and
Vietnam.
A company or other issuer is considered to be
“located” in a country or a region, and a security or instrument is deemed to be an Asian (or specific country) security or instrument, if it has substantial ties to that country or
region. Matthews currently makes that determination based primarily on one or more of the
following criteria: (A) with respect to a company or issuer, whether (i) it is organized
under the laws of that country or any country in that region; (ii) it derives at least 50% of its revenues or profits from goods produced or sold, investments made, or services performed, or has at least 50% of its
assets located, within that country or region; (iii) it has the primary trading markets for its securities in that country or region; (iv) it has its principal place of business in or is otherwise
headquartered in that country or region; or (v) it is a governmental entity or an agency, instrumentality or a political subdivision of that country or any country in that region; and (B) with respect to an
instrument or issue, whether (i) its issuer is headquartered or organized in that country
or region; (ii) it is issued to finance a project that has at least 50% of its assets or
operations in that country or region; (iii) it is at least 50% secured or backed by assets located in that country or region; (iv) it is a component of or its issuer is included the MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index, the
Fund’s primary benchmark index; or (v) it is denominated in the currency of an Asian country and addresses at least one of the other above criteria. The term “located” and the
associated criteria listed above have been defined in such a way that Matthews has latitude in determining whether an issuer should be included within a region or country. The Fund may also invest in
depositary receipts, including American, European and Global Depositary Receipts.
It is important to note that there are no universally agreed upon
objective standards for assessing innovators. Innovative companies can be both old and
new companies. Innovative companies can exist in any industries, old and new, and in any
countries, emerging or developed. Companies perceived as innovators in one country or one
industry might not be perceived as innovators in another country or another industry. For these reasons, the term innovators may be aspirational and tend to be stated broadly and applied
flexibly.
The Fund seeks to invest in companies capable of
sustainable growth based on the fundamental characteristics of those companies, including
balance sheet information; number of employees; size and stability of cash flow; management’s depth, adaptability and integrity; product lines; marketing strategies; corporate governance; and financial
health. The Fund may invest in companies of any size, including smaller size companies.
Matthews measures a company’s size with respect to fundamental criteria such as,
but not limited to, market capitalization, book value, revenues, profits, cash flow, dividends paid and number of employees. The implementation of the principal investment strategies of the Fund may result in a
significant portion of the Fund’s assets being invested from time to time in one or more sectors, but the Fund may invest in companies in any sector. The implementation of the Fund’s
principal investment strategies may also result in high portfolio turnover rates.
The Fund has a fundamental policy to
invest at least 25% of its net assets, which include borrowings for investment purposes, in the common and preferred stocks of companies that derive more than 50% of their revenues from the sale of
products or services in science-and technology-related industries and services, which
Matthews considers to be the following, among others: telecommunications,
telecommunications equipment, computers, semiconductors, semiconductor capital equipment, networking, Internet and online service companies, media, office automation, server hardware producers, software
companies (e.g., design, consumer and industrial), biotechnology and medical device
technology companies, pharmaceuticals and companies involved in the distribution and
servicing of these products.
The Fund may invest in affiliated and
unaffiliated ETFs, including the Matthews Asia Innovators Active ETF, a series of the Trust with a substantially similar investment strategy to the Fund, for cash equitization purposes, which allows
the Fund to invest in a manner consistent with its investment strategy while managing
daily cash flows, including purchases and redemptions by investors.
Principal Risks of Investment
There is no guarantee that your investment in the Fund will increase in value. The value of your investment in the Fund could go down, meaning you could lose money. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are:
Political, Social and Economic Risks of Investing in Asia: The value of the Fund’s assets may be adversely affected by political, economic, social and religious instability; inadequate investor protection; changes in laws or
regulations of countries within the Asian region (including countries in which the Fund invests, as well as the broader region); international relations with other nations; natural disasters; corruption
and military activity. The economies of many Asian countries differ from the economies of
more developed countries in many respects, such as rate of growth, inflation, capital
reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency, financial system stability, the national balance of payments position and sensitivity to changes in global trade.
Geopolitical Events Risk: The interconnectivity between global economies and financial markets increases the likelihood that
events or conditions in one region or financial market may adversely impact issuers in a
different country, region or financial market. Securities in the Fund’s portfolio may underperform due to inflation (or expectations for inflation), interest rates, global demand for particular products or
resources, trade disputes, supply chain disruptions, natural disasters, climate change and
climate-related events, pandemics, epidemics, terrorism, international conflicts,
cybersecurity events, regulatory events and governmental or quasi-governmental actions. The occurrence of global events similar to those in recent years may result in market volatility and may have long term
effects on the global financial markets.
Currency Risk: When the Fund conducts securities transactions in a foreign currency, there is the risk of the value
of the foreign currency increasing or decreasing against the value of the U.S. dollar.
The value of an investment denominated in a foreign currency will decline in U.S. dollar terms if that currency weakens against the U.S. dollar. While the Fund is permitted to hedge currency risks, Matthews does not
anticipate doing so at this time. Additionally, Asian countries may utilize formal or informal