JPM Japan

This is a domestic Japanese growth fund. When selecting stocks Nick incorporates a thematic approach, built from his on-the-ground knowledge and understanding of Japanese culture. Nick is benchmark agnostic and avoids ‘old Japan’ preferring younger companies with better corporate governance. Meeting management and understanding their culture is very important. The fund has a small and mid-cap bias. Stocks are sold when an investment case breaks down or when they get too expensive. This is one of our favourite Japanese funds. Nick is based in Tokyo and has a very clear and understandable investment approach.

Shoichi Mizusawa, Nicholas Weindling, Miyako Urabe

Nicholas Weindling is a country specialist for Japan equities at JPM and a member of the Japan team, based in Tokyo. Nicholas joined the JPM in 2006 from Baillie Gifford, where he worked initially as a U.K. large cap analyst and latterly as a Japanese equities investment manager. Nicholas obtained a B.A. (Honours) in History from Cambridge University. Miyako Urabe is also a country specialist for Japan equities at JPM and a member of the Japan team, based in Tokyo. Miyako joined the JPM in 2013 from Credit Suisse where she worked as an Asia ex-Japan specialist. Miyako obtained a Bachelors degree in Economics from Keio University, Japan. Shoichi Mizusawa, managing director, is a country specialist for Japan equities and head of the Japan team. Based in Japan, he leads the Japan-dedicated equity portfolio management teams in Hong Kong and Tokyo. Shoichi obtained a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Waseda University and an M.B.A. from Simon Fraser University

Nick is one of our favourite Japanese managers and understands the market like few others, having managed this fund since 2012. It also helps that he is based in Tokyo and has lived in Japan for many years. This is a very stylistic fund with a bias towards Japanese growth companies. Short-term performance is typically heavily dependent on which style is in favour in the fickle Japanese market. Recently growth and this fund have struggled. However, don’t let the short-term performance put you off – the long-term performance on this fund is still excellent and if domestic growth comes back into favour this fund could be perfectly positioned.