MFOHome About Commentary Discussions Funds The Best Resources Support Us!

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register

Categories

In this Discussion

Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

MAPIX update: Jesper Madsen to leave Matthews at the end of October

David_Snowball
edited July 2013 in Fund Discussions
Victoria Odinotska and the good folks who represent Matthews sent along word that Jesper Madsen has decided to leave the field of finance entirely (not going to a competitor, not starting a competitor, not working for a hedge fund) in order to pursue "personal interests outside of finance." He'll be gone on. oh, Halloween.

What does that mean for you? Not a lot, at least for the foreseeable future.

All of the Matthews managers are backed up by a "what if he gets hit by a bus?" co-manager. Andrew Foster was, for example, co-manager of Asia Dividend for Mr. Madsen while serving as lead manager of Asian Growth & Income. Effectively immediately, the authority structure at MAPIX changes with Madsen handing to controls over to his co-manager while still on-board. Here's the official word:
Effective July 19, 2013, portfolio management responsibilities for the Matthews Asia Dividend
Fund moved to a Co-Lead structure and have been assumed by Yu Zhang, CFA, who has served
as Co-Manager of the Fund, and Robert Horrocks, PhD, who is Chief Investment Officer and
Lead Manager of the Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund. In the interim period, Jesper serves as
Co-Manager on the Matthews Asia Dividend Fund
There will, necessarily, be a string of manager changes (enough to keep Chip busy for a couple months) as Matthews moves pieces around (Madsen was, for example , the back-up guy on China Dividend and will need to be replaced there).

I know nothing about Zhang except that Matthews trained him, picked him for this role and supports him. MAPIX is a very low turnover strategy (under 10%), which translates to adding or eliminating one position every couple months. And Matthews hasn't fumbled a manager transition yet. I didn't bail on MACSX when Andrew Foster left (though I did halve my position in order to invest in Seafarer) and, were I a shareholder here, I wouldn't bail on this one either.

Here's the link to the official Q&A: http://matthewsasia.com/resources/docs/pdf/literature/QA-asia-dividend_July19.pdf.

For what it's worth,

David

Comments

  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    Worth quite a lot, thank you!
  • JohnChisum
    Thanks for this news David. I too do not expect any changes in investment style for the fund. Mr. Horrocks will be one of the team and that is good news. I think the size of Matthews plays favorably here compared to say a Fidelity or Vanguard.

    Here is the bio of Mr. Zhang from the Matthews website if anyone is interested.

    Henry Zhang is a Portfolio Manager at Matthews International Capital Management, LLC, and co-manages the firm’s China and China Small Companies strategies. Prior to joining Matthews in 2007 as a Research Analyst, Henry served as an Application Consultant and Project Manager at Gifford Fong Associates for five years. Before moving to the United States, Henry worked for more than four years at Huaneng Power International, Inc., a NYSE-listed corporation, in China. Henry received a Master’s in Financial Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in Finance from San Francisco State University. He is fluent in Mandarin. Henry has been a Portfolio Manager of the Matthews China Fund since 2010 and of the China Small Companies Fund since its inception in 2011.
  • VintageFreakVintageFreak
    Political Science was bad enough. Now U's are handing out degrees in Financial Engineering ?!?!?! I thought the term meant something bad. I guess its okay if it is Matthews. Better check some other fund manager at Matthews has degree in Chinese Math. Something sounds wrong about that too.

    I want to really know why Madsen quitting finance. They shouldn't be allowed to keep it a secret.
  • Heathbob
    Does anyone think that Andrew Foster will role out another fund? I can't see his shop just maintaining one fund with two share classes.
  • MaxBialystockMaxBialystock
    The Matthews culture is sound and solid. I'm not worried. Thanks for the heads-up, David.
  • Kenster1_GlobalValue
    Reply to @Heathbob:

    Let me guess a Seafarer Overseas Dividend Fund? Maybe - but he would probably have to beef up his shop with another analyst.
  • AndyJ
    Reply to @Heathbob: AF answered a question on just that on the conference call last Thursday, basically saying it won't happen anytime soon, and would only be if they figure out some other strategy that would work as a mutual fund. It's a tiny shop with a miniscule AUM.
Sign In or Register to comment.