Michael Barrer, Head of ETF Capital Markets for Matthews Asia, joined Julie Cooling, Founder and CEO of RIA Channel, to discuss the launch of active ETFs at Matthews Asia.
For thirty years, Matthews Asia has invested in Asia as a fundamental, bottoms-up, active manager. For most of their history, these insights were available in mutual fund vehicles. In 2019, SEC regulations regarding ETFs changed, which allowed active managers to launch ETFs using custom baskets. Given the advantages of ETFs regarding transparency, lower costs, tax efficiency, and liquidity, Matthews Asia launched active ETFs in 2022 to give their clients a choice of investment vehicles.
Matthews Asia now offers ten active ETFs, which are clones of their long-running mutual fund strategies. These include the Asia Innovators Active ETF (MINV), the China Active ETF (MCH), Emerging Markets Equity Active ETF (MEM), and Emerging Markets ex-China ETF (MEMX).
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