The Nomura Japan High Conviction Fund has delivered first quartile performance since its inception five years ago, achieving cumulative returns of 96.2 per cent compared with the benchmark (TOPIX) return of 66.4 per cent (as at 31 August 2018).
Managed by Chief Portfolio Manager Shintaro Harada, this high conviction fund is based on Nomura’s successful and well established Japan Equity Active Growth investment platform. Harada and his team have access to both top-down risk analytics and bottom-up ideas through in-house and external sell-side analysts. This enables the team to make investment decisions driven by in-depth company analysis.
The Fund’s investment objective is to achieve long-term outperformance and capital growth through investment in a concentrated, actively managed portfolio of Japanese equity securities. The manager offers a ‘best ideas’ approach which selectively invests in individual companies focusing on strong, growing companies with sustainable characteristics, most notably return on equity (ROE). The fund typically holds 25-40 stocks.
Speaking about the fund’s anniversary, Shintaro Harada, Chief Portfolio Manager, says: “We are very pleased with the high conviction strategy’s performance, its positive reception and the delivery of its long-term outperformance. Our investment philosophy, which is based on the premise that high and sustainable ROE will lead to significant stock price appreciation, focuses on both the future level and the direction of ROE and this is where our disciplined research, experience, and expertise can add value.”
Strong research infrastructure is vital to support our investment decisions, especially for concentrated portfolios. With 27 research analysts covering Japanese equities, Nomura has one of the most experienced research teams in Japan. With this infrastructure and expertise, Nomura has the ability to select attractive investment opportunities with confidence.
Peter Ball, Head of Marketing and Client Relations at Nomura Asset Management UK Ltd, says: “Nomura offers a range of high conviction funds, including, Japan, Asia, India and Global Equities. These actively managed funds are benchmark agnostic and agile to maximise the impact of our very best ideas of our locally based investment teams.”
