Bestinvest says
The fund is part of a number of Japanese funds run by Martin Currie who were one of the first British fund managers to invest significantly in Japanese equities. The main difference between this fund and other Japanese funds from Martin Currie is that the fund's manager, Millar is likely to turn the portfolio holdings over less frequently. Whilst we like the fund's process, performance has been less impressive since the departure of the fund's original manager Michael Thomas, who managed the fund for 17 years until 2006. Consequently we advise that investors look at our four and five star rated funds in the sector.
The manager (Millar) seeks to position the fund in the appropriate position for the economic cycle putting significant emphasis on companies that are increasing their profit margins and revenues when he is bullish on the Japanese stock market.
The underlying belief of Martin Currie's Japanese equity team is that analyst forecasts of earnings are frequently inaccurate, often to a large degree, as they simply extrapolate earnings for the current environment. They have produced interesting research to to support this. Furthermore Millar believes that growth companies' earnings grow exponentially, not geometrically, and that investors need to hold their nerve to capture this.
Millar therefore tends to run his winners and manages the fund with a low turnover style.