Major Chinese companies' latest quarterly reports reinforce how the local market is one for stock pickers. "There has been outperformance, but it has been unique to certain companies," Lorraine Tan, director of Asia equity research at Morningstar, said in a phone interview with CNBC Pro. "The trend is, across the board, more so weakness reflecting macro trends, and guidance is cautious.
Ben Harburg, founder of CoreValues Alpha and a portfolio manager of the fund, participated in early-stage investments in Chinese companies Meituan and Nio, before they went public. "We think we can trade China's public better than other ETFs," he said, noting his firm has offices in both the U.S. and China. That gives the ETF managers timely information to move in and out of Chinese stocks.