SuMi TRUST AM’s Sakigake ‘Pioneer’ Fund becomes available to UK investors

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management (SuMi TRUST AM), one of Japan’s largest asset managers, has today announced that its Sakigake High Alpha – Japan Thematic Growth fund, a UCITS vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, has become available to UK institutional investors.*

The fund forms part of SuMi TRUST AM’s overall Sakigake strategy, which launched in 2003. The strategy currently has over USD 1.5bn AUM and has delivered a return of 342.28% above the benchmark TOPIX since inception.

The UCITS vehicle was launched in 2018. Classified as article 8 under SFDR it has a total AUM of USD 37 million. It has outperformed the TOPIX since inception, with 10.98% return vs 9.39% and so far this year during the recent stock market rally, with a return of 18.59% to 14.25%.**

Sakigake means pioneer and the strategy and fund invest in the mid and large cap Japanese companies that are ahead of the curve in addressing structural issues or solving societal problems. As such the fund follows both a bottom up and thematic approach and is weighted towards information technology and industrial stocks. The fund invests solely in listed Japanese companies. 

Key holdings include Maruwa the specialist manufacturer of the ceramic components that are designed to withstand extremely high temperatures and which are pivotal in data centres, and Tokyo Electron, a leading Japanese semiconductor company.

Veteran portfolio manager Katsunori Ogawa has been responsible for the overall strategy and the UCITS fund since inception. 

Katsunori Ogawa, chief portfolio manager, SuMi TRUST AM Sakigake High Alpha Japan Thematic Growth, said: “The combination of top-down thematic and bottom-up fundamental approaches enables us to explore original and promising investment themes and corresponding stocks. In the coming years, it is expected that inflation and rising interest rates will polarise share prices between the winners and losers, creating a tailwind for active investment managers. Therefore,  a flexible approach, which Sakigake High Alpha strategy incorporates, should prove key in making investment decisions.”

Hiroki Moritani, Managing Director of SuMi TRUST International said, “UK investors are increasingly seeking Japanese growth opportunities, and we’re excited to bring our Sakigake strategy to the UK’s significant institutional market. As one of 

Japan’s largest asset managers we provide very strong on-the-ground research capabilities, which are essential in a market where far more stocks are listed than in the UK relative to the total market cap and where the role of an active manager is necessarily greater.”

*Previously the fund was available to UK investors only by enquiry (reverse solicitation). SuMi TRUST AM will now be marketing the fund in the UK to institutional investors under the National Private Placement Regime (NPPR).

**Net of fees and expenses. Performance figures as of June 2024.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Richard Billinge / Nic Jordan/ Hannah Badawi-Crook 

Four Communications

SumitomoMitsuiTrustGroup@four.agency

Note to editors

SuMi TRUST

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management (SuMi TAM) is one of the largest asset managers in Japan with $637bn assets under management as of the end of August 2024.

SuMi TRUST is the marketing name of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group and the entities that fall within it, including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust International Limited and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. 

With a strong on the ground presence in Japan, SuMi TRUST provides institutions and multi managers in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia with the opportunity to invest in a broad spectrum of Japanese equity and fixed income investment strategies.

SuMi TRUST was formed by the merger of two of Japan's largest financial institutions, Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings and Sumitomo Trust & Banking Ltd., both of which have origins dating back to the 1920s.