fund
JPM Japan C
A mid and small cap biased fund, benefiting from resources in London and Tokyo.
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389.10p
Price (Inc)
These are the shares in the fund that pay out an income to clients. The income is made up of the total dividends – the money a company can pay out to its investors – from the companies in the fund.
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375.50p
Price (Acc)
These are the shares in the fund that don’t pay out an income to clients. Any dividends – the money a company can pay out to its investors – are reinvested into companies in the fund. Despite no income, the shares should be worth more over time. Good incentive, eh?
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0.00%
Initial chargeSome funds charge you when you first invest, which is aptly known as the initial charge. They’re usually between 3-5% but at Bestinvest, we usually don’t charge you a penny!
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0.75%
Annual management charge
This is how much the fund management company charges to run the fund. It’s like paying a babysitter, dog sitter or house sitter (that makes well-informed, heavily researched changes to improve your baby/dog/house when needed).
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0.93%
Ongoing charges
This stands for Ongoing Charges Figure. It’s the cost of running a fund and includes admin fees, manager fees, administration costs, etc.
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0.10%
Yield
How much the fund is currently paying out in income to investors. It’s NOT to be confused with the overall growth of a fund – a very different thing indeed. It’s also NOT a guarantee of future pay-outs, just a snapshot. This is more what it’s not than what it is…
This fund is benchmarked against the TOPIX index although the fund does not invest in a benchmark constrained manner. The focus of this fund is small capitalisation growth companies. In September 2012 the fund experienced a manager change following the departure of David Mitchinson. He has been replaced by Nicholas Weindling. Given that Weindling does not possess a stand alone track record we removed the rating on the fund to be consistent with our rating policy.
Fund summary
| Sector | Japan |
| Structure | OEIC |
| Launched | September, 2007 |
| Size | £1,756m |
| Yield | 0.10% |
| Charging basis | Income |
| Dividends paid | 30 Apr |
Charges
| Standard initial charge | 0.00% |
| Initial charge via Bestinvest | 0.00% |
| Additional bid/offer spread | 0.00% |
| Annual management charge | 0.75% |
| Ongoing charges figure | 0.93% |
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Investment process
The fund is essentially a stock picking fund where the manager seeks to identify companies with strong market shares in growing industries either in Japan or, typically, in emerging markets. The fund will differ from the TOPIX weightings, to a reasonable extent and is likely to be more volatile this benchmark. Essentially investors are buying the managers ability to identify prominent trends and companies that are benefiting from this. Crucially, especially in Japan, is the fund manager's ability to identify company management that will drive shareholder value. Mitchinson will primarily use 'growth' metrics to identify investigable companies. Typically this will mean he focuses on revenue growth, price to earnings, EBIT and cash flow for company valuations. Although this is placed within the context of quality management. Mitchinson has access to JPM's considerable resources in Japan and Emerging Markets. However the team in which he sits is autonomous to a degree, given that he originally worked for Jardine Fleming, a specialist Asian equity house which was bought by JPM in 2000.
The focus is on quality smaller companies that have good visibility on future earnings, the manager typically runs a high conviction portfolio of what he considers are future winners. The Japanese market is cyclical and growth companies such as those Mitchinson targets are not always rewarded as western investors might expect. Whilst this fund is by no means the most volatile small cap Japanese fund investors must be prepared to accept short term variations from the benchmark and volatility in search of longer term returns. Mitchinson has been investing in Japan since 2001 and is based in Hong Kong.
Manager research
Average monthly relative returns
- 16/17 -1.58%
- 17/18 1.04%
- 18/19 -8.50%
- 19/20 0.65%
- 20/21 0.75%
Bestinvest MRI
- 3 years -2.37%
- 5 years -1.53%
- Career -0.56%
- 3 years 20.90%
- 5 years 20.10%
- Career 22.70%
Performance figures are based on the average of monthly percentage returns relative to the benchmark index.
Nicholas Weindling
Weindling, vice president, is an investment manager with the Japan team of Pacific Regional Group in Tokyo. He joined the firm in 2006 from Baillie Gifford in Edinburgh where he spent four years, initially as a UK large cap analyst and latterly as a Japanese equities investment manager. Weindling obtained a BA (Hons) in History from Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Track record
Nicholas Weindling has 13.2 years experience of managing mutual funds in this sector. Over this period the average monthly return relative to the benchmark index has been -0.56%. During the worst period of relative performance (from May 2016 - February 2019) there was a decline of 100% relative to the index. The worst absolute loss has been 56%.
Periods of worst performance
| Absolute | -56.00% (January 2008 - March 2009) |
| Relative | -100.00% (May 2016 - February 2019) |
About the MRI
Our unique indicator: the Bestinvest Manager Record Index (MRI) measures the likelihood that the fund manager is adding value through their decisions. It is based on their performance record over the course of their career, adjusted for the amount of risk taken. MRI is an important contributor to our fund rating system but it is also vital to take account of qualitative factors. It is also very important to select funds to form a cohesive portfolio with an appropriate overall risk level.
Allocation
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Top 10 holdings
Data accurate as at 31 July 2020
| 6.4% | Keyence Corp |
| 5.2% | Hoya Corp |
| 4.4% | Obic |
| 4.2% | M3 Inc |
| 3.9% | Kao Corp |
| 3.8% | Nintendo Co |
| 3.7% | Monotaro Co.ltd |
| 3.5% | Tokyo Electron |
| 3.3% | Nihon M&A Center |
| 3.2% | Hikari Tsushin Inc |
| Source: Trustnet |
Sector breakdown
| Communications | 22.00% |
| Services | 17.00% |
| Electronic & Electrical Equipment | 13.00% |
| Retail | 10.00% |
| Chemicals | 9.00% |
| Precision Instruments | 8.00% |
| Machinery | 7.00% |
| Others | 4.00% |
| Other Financial | 2.00% |
| Real Estate | 2.00% |
Portfolio
The number of holdings ranges between 40 and 60 while the top 10 usually represents over 30%.