San Francisco-based Matthews Asia, a $17 billion emerging markets investment specialist, has made its ETF debut with the launch of three transparent actively managed funds.

Matthews Asia has launched three active ETFs providing high-conviction exposure to emerging markets.

Two of the new listings, the Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Active ETF (MEM US) and Matthews China Active ETF (MCH US), offer alpha-seeking exposure to traditional emerging markets and Greater China equity portfolios.

The third listing, the Matthews Asia Innovators Active ETF (MINV US), invests in developed and emerging market stocks from the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, focusing on innovative companies within science and technology-related sectors.

The ETFs are substantially similar to existing mutual funds and are managed using Matthews Asia’s long-standing fundamental research approach that seeks to identify compelling investment opportunities with the potential to generate superior returns compared to index-based approaches.

The firm’s core investment approach seeks out companies capable of sustainable growth. Stock selection is based on fundamental characteristics including balance sheet strength, number of employees, size and stability of cash flow, the depth and adaptability of management, and the strength of corporate governance.

Each ETF has been listed on NYSE Arca with an expense ratio of 0.79%.

Cooper Abbott, CEO of Matthews Asia, commented: “The launch of our active ETFs represents an exciting new chapter in our company’s history and a great opportunity for Matthews Asia to bring its deep expertise in emerging markets to a growing number of investors who now view these global, regional, and country-specific strategies as long-term strategic allocations. At Matthews Asia, we have a history of offering new strategies when we believe there are attractive long-term opportunities for our clients. Our new active ETFs continue that tradition by providing another way for investors to access our deep expertise backed by over 30 years of active investment experience that we believe can provide investors with superior long-term investment returns.”

Robert Horrocks, CIO of Matthews Asia, added: “We continue to believe in the long-term benefits of actively managed portfolios, particularly when they are focused on less efficient markets in Asia and China. Our active ETFs will use the same established fundamental approach as our mutual funds to identify companies that we think represent the most attractive long-term opportunities within global emerging markets.”