By MARCEL PORCHERON 17/04/2008
Although Hideo Shiozumi has added considerable value for investors in his funds over his entire career, recent performance relative to his peer group has been poor. Like many Japanese smaller company fund managers, Shiozumi has encountered difficulties because of the massive sell off in the small cap space he operates in. He remains convinced that his portfolio offers excellent value, and that a significant re-rating can occur based on superior earnings growth. However, we have higher conviction in other fund managers to deliver consistent outperformance in future. We are thus unable to recommend new investments into what is a volatile and concentrated fund.
The fund has been downgraded from 3 to 2 stars.