Bestinvest says
We like this fund because it follows a consistent approach to investing in the Japanese stock market. That is a fundamental, risk cautious approach to selecting stocks, from a manager who has over thirty years investment experience and speaks Japanese. Andrew Rose is also well supported by an established team of analysts and managers based in Tokyo. The focus on quality companies and the fund will tend to avoid investing in expensive growth stocks.
The fund's objective is to achieve capital appreciation through participation in the growth of the Japanese economy. The investment team apply quantitative and qualitative filters to their universe of stocks to arrive at a Selected Equity List of closely followed companies. Analysts make 3 year earnings forecasts, with an emphasis on quality. This includes earnings visibility, good management, a strong balance sheet and a focus on shareholders. The manager takes a bottom-up fundamental view towards stock selection, whilst maintaining a cautious eye on the index in order to keep the tracking error between about 4% and 8%. The manager's focus on quality companies on reasonable valuations generally leads him to avoid investing in expensive growth stocks. Generally portfolio turnover of stocks is low.