Japan is back on investors’ radar
Since the start of 2023, Japanese equities have attracted growing attention from overseas investors. An improving macroeconomic backdrop, including the end of deflation, attractive valuations and transformed corporate behaviour following over a decade of reforms, have helped instil a renewed sense of optimism for Japan’s stockmarket, putting the Nikkei back on the radar.
Numerous policies have been implemented, designed to shake up the country’s institutional framework, spark growth and cultivate a healthy corporate environment for businesses to thrive in. Momentum has been building, and corporate governance has been redefined as Japanese companies embark on their quests for self-improvement.
A favourable market for active investors
Nevertheless, the Japanese stockmarket is still overlooked by many investors and therefore, in our opinion, it offers considerable prospects for active stockpickers to add value through proprietary research, insights and engagement with companies.
The M&G Asia Pacific Equity Team has over 20 years of experience investing in Japan and possesses a truly unique perspective on this market.
We believe that our deep understanding of companies and emphasis on active engagement puts us in a favourable position to capitalise on the structural transformation in Japan. In particular, our unique brand of "value-added shareholdership" can help us take advantage of the significant changes taking place in Japanese corporate behaviour.
Preparation before opportunity
Our highly experienced team identifies opportunities where we perceive there to be a misalignment between the price and the value of a company. Through our high conviction, bottom-up approach to stock selection, we select investments from a core universe of stocks which has been carefully curated over 20-plus years.
We deliberately concentrate our efforts on these companies where we can plausibly claim to have earned the right to a superior perspective on the debate. In our opinion, our edge does not come from better forecasting, but rather from the superior pricing of risk.
The value and income from a fund's assets will go down as well as up. This will cause the value of your investment to fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you originally invested. The views expressed in the podcast and videos should not be taken as a recommendation, advice or forecast. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.
Latest video insights
The slow but steady journey of the rise of corporate Japan
Value added shareholdership
Our unique approach to investing in Japan
Meet the team
Carl Vine
Co-Head of Asia Pacific Equity Team
- Carl Vine joined M&G in 2019 as Co-Head of Asia Pacific Equity Team. Carl has 25 years of investment experience in Japan and is the lead manager for M&G’s Japanese Equities strategies.
- Prior to this, Carl co-founded Port Meadow Capital Management, a boutique Pan-Asian investment firm, in 2014. He has previously worked as a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager for SAC Capital Advisors in Hong Kong and was the Asian-based member of their global investment committee.
- Before that, Carl was a Managing Director at UBS in Hong Kong, where he invested proprietary capital across Asia including Japan. He began his career with Prudential Portfolio Managers in London, before relocating to Tokyo to open Prudential’s Japan office.
- Carl holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from Oxford University.
Sunny Romo
Investment Director
- Sunny Romo is an Investment Director responsible for Japanese Equities at M&G since 2018.
- Prior to M&G, Sunny spent most of her career working in the Japanese stock market; first as an equity trader and subsequently as a Senior Relationship Manager and Japan Specialist in Asset Management One.
- She was also responsible for relationships with Asian clients at Insight Investment.
- Sunny holds the CAIA designation.
Discover more on our Asian strategies
The Asia Opportunity
Asia has been on a remarkable journey in the past few decades. Powered by the rise of China, the region has become an increasingly important part of the global economy.
