@JohnChisum, you're right, I looked at MATFX. MEASX, MSMLX and MJFOX are in the same neighborhood, and the big winner to my great surprise was MCSMX, which has 22.4% in small-cap Chinese healthcare. That's pretty good, and I would expect/hope for China to get a big allocation if there was an EM or Asia focused healthcare fund, but I'm not struggling for exposure to China generally.
@scott, interestingly, two frontier market funds I own, WAFMX and MEASX, both have investments in Abbott Labs Pakistan. Considering its 5-year average return is 5
1.
18% (according to M*) I guess that's a somewhat more exciting connection to ABT.
I think you could make a great investment thesis out of either EM or Asia-specific healthcare, as a play on the size of the population, as a play on the increasing middle class, as a play on aging, as a play on exposure to the local economies rather than what they can export to the developed world, in a somewhat defensive sector (although maybe not as much in the developing world). Its all the goodies in one bag with an investment product that isn't available anywhere from what I can tell, at least to the general investing public. Maybe I'm overlooking some big things, though. Maybe the rising middle class will spend a little of their extra money on healthcare but most of it on nicer clothes, or better food, or an iPhone.
I'm just struck by what JC was saying about the people who go work abroad and come home with expectations. I actually know this from a slightly different perspective because my wife is from a country that was behind the iron curtain and when I started paying for private rather than public medical and dental care, she suddenly realized the care she had received her entire life was pretty bad. Her expectations have changed completely.
I did write to Matthews a few hours ago and I'll write a note when/if they respond.
