Aberdeen's Japan fund kicks off
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Aberdeen Asset Management Co has raised about Bt400 million for its Aberdeen Japan Opportunities Fund, which started trading yesterday, after a two-week sales effort.
Aberdeen said it was very pleased with the response, which it credited to the strong stimulus now being seen in Japan, the company’s disciplined long-term investment approach and Thai investors looking to diversify. Most of them are high-net-worth individuals.
The fund’s launch comes as global investors turn more risk-averse with the prospect of the end to cheap money in the United States, slower growth in China and weaker corporate returns globally. Thailand’s bourse is in a “bear market”, having fallen by 20 per cent from its peak this year.
The launch was supported by the presence of Keita Kubota, who is one of the fund managers in the Aberdeen Group’s Tokyo-based investment team. Aberdeen focuses on stock-picking opportunities among the 3,000 listed companies in Japan across a range of industries and sectors.
Nine FIFs
As evidence of that, the Aberdeen Global-Japanese Equity fund, a Luxembourg-listed vehicle into which the Aberdeen Japan Opportunities Fund invests, holds only about 30 stocks. The fund brings to nine the number of funds in Aberdeen’s range of foreign investment funds (FIFs).
Chaikaseam Vadhanasiripong, head of funds distribution for Thailand, said yesterday that this was a difficult environment in which to talk stocks, but the firm’s investors had taken on board the specific opportunities in Japan and the nuances of the firm’s investment approach.
Taking into account price deflation, Japan’s economy has actually been growing in recent years, while companies have become more resilient with strengthened balance sheets, better governance and lower costs.
This has created value for investors, as more than 60 per cent of companies in Japan are trading below book value.
“Provided you are patient and careful about picking stocks, we strongly believe this is a market with long-term earnings potential,” he said.
