Close

At AlbaCore, we focus on the long-term. As one of Europe’s leading alternative credit specialists, we invest in private capital solutions, opportunistic and dislocated credit, and structured products. 

Discover more
Close

Specialist in Asia Pacific, Japan, China, India and South East Asia and Global Emerging Market equities.

Discover more
Close

Our philosophy is very simple. We are constantly searching for high quality businesses and when we acquire them, we will work relentlessly with them to create long-term sustainable value through innovation, ESG-led and proactive asset management.

Discover more
Close

Leader in active quantitative equities across Australian equities, global equities, emerging markets and global small companies.

Backed by a unique blend of research, portfolio construction and risk management, focused on uncovering original insights and translating them into investment strategies that are active and systematic, aiming to generate alpha.

Discover more
Close

Specialists in equity portfolios in Asia Pacific, emerging markets, global and sustainable investment strategies

Discover more
Important Note Click to maximise

This is a financial promotion for The First Sentier Japan Strategy. This information is for professional clients only in the EEA and elsewhere where lawful. Investing involves certain risks including:

  • The value of investments and any income from them may go down as well as up and are not guaranteed. Investors may get back sigfsnificantly less than the original amount invested.
  • Currency risk: the Fund invests in assets which are denominated in other currencies; changes in exchange rates will affect the value of the Fund and could create losses. Currency control decisions made by governments could affect the value of the Fund's investments and could cause the Fund to defer or suspend redemptions of its shares. 
  • Single country / specific region risk: investing in a single country or specific region may be riskier than investing in a number of different countries or regions. Investing in a larger number of countries or regions helps spread risk. Smaller companies risk: Investments in smaller companies may be riskier and more difficult to buy and sell than investments in larger companies.

For details of the firms issuing this information and any funds referred to, please see Terms and Conditions and Important Information.  

For a full description of the terms of investment and the risks please see the Prospectus and Key Investor Information Document for each Fund. 

If you are in any doubt as to the suitability of our funds for your investment needs, please seek investment advice.

FSSA Investment Managers: Japan - Net cash and strong balance sheets

How has the net cash position of companies in the FSSA Japan portfolio helped them steer the Covid pandemic?

The FSSA Investment Management investment approach focuses on identifying high-quality companies with strong management teams, dominant franchises and conservative financials. Additionally, we seek to invest in companies that have high return on invested capital (ROIC), strong and sustainable growth, and high earnings visibility.

In light of the ongoing market uncertainties, the FSSA Japan Equity strategy is invested in domestically-focused companies that have high visibility with regards to demand. This includes drugstores and discount retailers offering daily necessities, software and technology solutions providers operating a recurring revenue model, and online platforms in e-commerce and digital payments. We believe they should remain resilient in the event of a global recession.

We have also invested in leading Asian consumer franchises, global medical equipment manufacturers, factory automation companies, and other technology leaders. Though they have high exposure to overseas markets, we believe they are all high-quality companies with a dominant market share in niche industries and solid balance sheets.

Indeed, most of the companies in our Japan strategy have a net cash position on the balance sheet. In a world awash in high levels of debt, we believe these companies should offer a reasonable amount of downside protection. Our portfolio holdings also generate high ROIC, indicating that these companies have significant profits that can be reinvested into the business for long-term growth.

This can be seen in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies owned in the Japan strategy. They used their strong net cash balance sheets to take advantage of the “once in a lifetime” opportunity in 2020. Most of them invested massively into their businesses over the past year in order to increase their penetration into Japanese corporate clients. Rakus is a key example of this – although the company paused on its advertising spend in order to control costs during the pandemic, it continued to hire employees at its regular pace and its revenue growth remained strong, despite the macro environment. We believe there is still plenty of room to grow as the adoption of SaaS in Japan is still relatively low.

Other examples include companies like Japan Elevator Service and Shift, which took advantage of cash on their balance sheets to grow their businesses. Over the fiscal year ending March 2021, Japan Elevator Service made six acquisitions to expand its regional market share. It has identified another 20 companies with succession issues that it could potentially acquire in the future. We expect these new investments to improve its ROIC in the medium to long term.

Meanwhile, Shift added more than 700 engineers on a net basis in 2020, of which 100-200 came from acquisitions. So far, they have acquired 24 companies in total (five of the acquisitions were made in 2020) as they consolidated the market. Shift aims to disrupt the deeply-rooted practices of the domestic information technology (IT) services industry and become a full solutions provider for companies undergoing digital transformation projects. We believe that acquiring talent and technology is critical for the company to sustain its growth over the long term.

Important Information

This document has been prepared for informational purposes only and is only intended to provide a summary of the subject matter covered. It does not purport to be comprehensive or to give advice. The views expressed are the views of the writer at the time of issue and may change over time. This is not an offer document and does not constitute an offer, invitation or investment recommendation to distribute or purchase securities, shares, units or other interests or to enter into an investment agreement. No person should rely on the content and/or act on the basis of any material contained in this document.

This document is confidential and must not be copied, reproduced, circulated or transmitted, in whole or in part, and in any form or by any means without our prior written consent. The information contained within this document has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable and accurate at the time of issue but no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the fairness, accuracy, or completeness of the information. We do not accept any liability whatsoever for any loss arising directly or indirectly from any use of this document.

References to “we” or “us” are references to First Sentier Investors a member of MUFG, a global financial group. First Sentier Investors includes a number of entities in different jurisdictions. MUFG and its subsidiaries do not guarantee the performance of any investment or entity referred to in this document or the repayment of capital. Any investments referred to are not deposits or other liabilities of MUFG or its subsidiaries, and are subject to investment risk including loss of income and capital invested.

If this document relates to an investment strategy which is available for investment via a UK UCITS but not an EU UCITS fund then that strategy will only be available to EU/EEA investors via a segregated mandate account.

In the United Kingdom, issued by First Sentier Investors (UK) Funds Limited which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (registration number 143359). Registered office Finsbury Circus House, 15 Finsbury Circus, London, EC2M 7EB number 2294743. In the EEA, issued by First Sentier Investors (Ireland) Limited which is authorised and regulated in Ireland by the Central Bank of Ireland (registered number C182306) in connection with the activity of receiving and transmitting orders. Registered office: 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland number 629188. Outside the UK and the EEA, issued by First Sentier Investors International IM Limited which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (registered number 122512). Registered office: 23 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 1BB number SCO79063.

Copyright © (2021) First Sentier Investors

All rights reserved.