Bangkok--6 Aug--Aberdeen
Aberdeen Asset Management Company Limited (‘Aberdeen’) is to launch a mutual fund investing in Japanese equities. The launch comes amid renewed interest in Japan as Prime Minister Abe seeks to reflate the country’s economy.
Aberdeen’s new fund, the Aberdeen Japan Opportunities Fund (ABJO)* will invest into an existing fund the Aberdeen Global — Japanese Equity Fund (Master), which the Aberdeen Group has managed for over two decades. The fund is the latest in the company’s FIF range and will bring the number of such funds to nine.
For the past decade Japan has been quietly reforming, according to Aberdeen. It sees corporate resilience in the shape of strengthened balance sheets, better governance and lower costs — a strong yen having forced many companies to relocate production overseas, closer to end markets.
At the same time, contrary to popular impression, it points out the economy has been expanding in real terms. Were it not for persistent deflation (till now), the headline rate of growth would probably have been higher. Japan is still the third largest economy in the world.
Aberdeen ignores the benchmark and pays little direct notice to top-down themes. Instead it focuses on stockpicking opportunities among the 3,000 listed companies in Japan that span a wide range of industries and sectors. From Tokyo the asset manager does its own research, which has led to a concentrated, high conviction portfolio.
As with its other equity funds, Aberdeen invests for the long term aiming to realise value over the course of the business cycle. It has had a position in many of its top holdings for 5-10 years, with names like auto maker Honda, Fanuc, a leader in factory automation, and Canon, the imaging group, all prominent.
Aberdeen’s Luxembourg-listed Japan Master fund was ranked in the top quartile of its 800 fund-plus peer group in each of the four years up to end 2012. A similar fund run by the same investment team was awarded ‘Best Japan Core Equity (DB)’ and ‘Best Japan Equity (401k) by Rating and Investment Fund Awards in 2013 in Japan itself.
Mr. Keita Kubota, Investment Manager, Japanese Equities Team, Aberdeen Investment Management K.K, comments:
“All the attention today in Japan is on ‘Abenomics’ and its policy ‘arrows’, which is helpful as Japan has had very little attention at all for many years. Even so, we’re not investing in government policies or gross domestic product (GDP), or even macro themes, but in companies.
“Japan is home to some truly world class companies, some of which are household names whereas others are less well-known. What unites the ones we invest in is their relentless focus on customers, quality improvement and cashflow generation. They are the type of companies anyone should want to own if they are looking to diversify abroad.”
Ms. Ratanawan Saengkitikomol, Investment Manager, Aberdeen Asset Management, adds:
“There’s an opportunity for value investors as over 60% of companies in Japan are trading below book value, despite the recent run-up in the benchmark Topix index. Earnings are broadly supportive, thanks in part to policy stimulus, including the weaker yen. Plus firms have already been returning cash to shareholders via dividends and buybacks, which is a sustainable trend.”
The IPO of Aberdeen Japan Opportunities Fund (ABJO)* will be from August 13-26, 2013.
For every 100,000 baht invested in ABJO during this period investors will get a free 100 baht-
worth of units in the Aberdeen Cash Creation fund. ABJO will mainly invest in units of a foreign
fund, Aberdeen Global-Japanese Equity Fund (Master Fund) at least 80% of its NAV in an
accounting period. The Fund risk is level 6.
Aberdeen Global-Japanese Equity Fund (Master Fund)’s Information
Fund Type: Equity
Investment policy: The Fund’s investment objective is long-term total return to be achieved by investing at least two-thirds of the Fund’s assets in equities and equity-related securities of companies with their registered office in Japan; and /or, of companies which have the preponderance of their business activities in Japan, and /or, of holding companies that have the preponderance of their assets in companies with their registered office in Japan.
Risks: Currency risk, Regulatory risk, Regulatory risk in Non-EU Jurisdictions, Liquidity risk, Counterparty risk, Specific risks related to OTC derivative transactions, Inflation/Deflation risk, Increased Volatility and Leverage risk.
Management fee: 1.50% of Net Asset Value per annum
Charges: Maximum initial Avg: 4.25% to 5.00%; Max 6.38%
For additional fund information, investor may request the prospectus from Aberdeen, Distributors or download from website. Investments contain risks. Investment in a foreign investment fund (FIF) is subject to currency risk and may get a return lower than the amount initially invested. Investor should study prospectus, investment policy and risk factors before making a decision to invest.
*The project is still under the SEC approval process. Company reserves the right to change IPO period as deemed appropriate.
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