The RWC Nissay Japan Focus Fund is a sub-fund of the firm’s UCITS-qualified Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV. It will build upon the existing partnership with Nissay Asset Management using a constructive engagement-based approach.
Oncence it receives regulatory approval, the fund will be managed by Yasuaki Kinoshita and will replicate RWC’s Japanese Stewardship Fund.
Dan Mannix, RWC chief executive, cited the recent resurgence in the Japanese equity market following the introduction of ‘Abenomics’ as being key to the decision to expand the firm’s operations there.
“Japan has long been seen as a market that would benefit from a focus on shareholder returns,” he said. “That focus now exists, and there is a real opportunity to create value through engagement with Japanese companies, but it is essential that this is done constructively and in the right way.
“Investors have a real appetite for something a bit different in their Japanese allocations and it is supported by exceptional performance.”
Corinna Arnold, RWC lead adviser and Japanese Stewardship Fund portfolio manager, outlined why the firm is opting for a constructive engagement approach.
“Activism is used in the US and the UK and can get quite rambunctious at times – it is something that wouldn’t work well in Japan,” she explained.
“Japanese managers prefer not to upset the wagon, so we decided the right approach is to be constructive, not destructive. That way they are more receptive when we discuss issues such as increasing the pay-out ratio, what to do with cash that is piling up on the balance sheet and when looking at underperforming subsidiaries.”
