Shiozumi Asset Management, whose founder Hideo Shiozumi has 50 years’ investment experience, runs the fund. The manager's strategy takes a long-term view and focuses on companies that can exploit and benefit from a changing Japan – an ageing population, changing consumer lifestyles and ‘internet empowerment’.

The portfolio is focused on domestic-oriented sectors that Shiozumi believes will be major beneficiaries from workstyle reforms. These include medical and nursing care services, outsourcing business and e-commerce. He seeks to identify high-growth companies with annual earnings growth of more than 20%, which are nevertheless attractively valued. His investment style is based around three key principles that he has honed over his career: having a focus on growth companies, running a high-conviction portfolio that is far more concentrated than competitors and the index, and holding stocks for the truly long term.

He invests in companies across the market capitalisation spectrum but has a bias towards small and medium-sized companies operating in profitable niches – where Shiozumi thinks the potential for share price expansion is the greatest. In addition, the fund is highly concentrated, with typically holding around 40 shares.

October 2020