Alma Eikoh Japan Large Cap Equity Fund
Overview
Alma Eikoh Japan Large Cap Equity is a long only fund investing in Japanese large cap stocks.
The fund is managed internally by Alma Capital London.
Share Class
NAV
Cumulative Performance (%)
Fund Inception 12 June 2014
| Daily | Monthly | Ytd | 1Yr | 3Yr | 5Yr | Incept. | Incept.Date |
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The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Strategy & Manager
Fund Strategy
The Strategy seeks long-term capital growth by investing in Japanese large cap stocks, typically with market capitalisation in excess of US$ 1bn. The team analyses long term company fundamentals through extensive in-house bottom up research with strong risk management ethos. At the heart of the philosophy is a deep-seated knowledge and understanding of the Japanese companies that the Eikoh team invests in. Portfolio of around 30 companies which are well managed, profitable and with good prospects.
Investment Manager
Alma Capital London is an FCA-authorised fund management company, which is a subsidiary of Alma Capital Investment Management, a Luxembourg-based independent management company founded in 2006.
Key Persons
James Pulsford
Portfolio Manager
James started his career at Morgan Grenfell in 1987, moving to Japan shortly thereafter. During his 12 years in Tokyo, he went on to become the Head of the Small Cap Equity team. James returned to London in 1999 where he managed a number of Japanese large cap products for what became Deutsche Asset Management. As well as various Japanese long only mandates, James has developed the Equilibria Japan long/short strategy at this time. James now has over 42 years’ experience investing in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese. He holds a BA from Oxford University.
Tom Grew
Portfolio Manager
Tom started his career in management consulting before moving to Eikoh Research Investment Management (ERIM) in 2018, an independent asset management company led by James Pulsford established as a result of the spin out of the Japanese Equity Team from Deutsche Asset Management. At ERIM, he worked on the long-only and hedge funds management. Tom holds a BA from Cambridge University and has completed the CFA syllabus.
Statistics & Commentary
Performance
The performance data shown represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Portfolio Characteristics
Top 10 Position Details
Investment Manager's Commentary
as of 29/05/2026Market Review and Outlook
The Topix continued to recover apace in May, rising 6.2% over the month after a similar gain in April. Thematically, AI remained the major driver of stock market performance with the rally in shares of companies geared to the capital spending boom accelerating over the period. It is hard to pinpoint one specific piece of news that drove this trend higher but with growing speculation around the mega-IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, a large capital raise by Google to fund further capex and ongoing pieces of bullish commentary by several key supply chain companies both in Japan and overseas, buying was spectacular. The 10 most heavily traded names in Japan were all AI-related and constituted close to 40% of market volume, with the rally also driving component and MLCC names much higher. Electronic components were the top performing sector with a +45% gain, followed by semiconductors at +41% and other sectors including telecommunications which contains AI investment company Softbank Group, also performing very strongly. The outlook for a resolution to the Iran conflict remained cloudy with concerns about a sustained shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz driving oil prices up, and wider share prices down, in the middle of the month before reversing on renewed hopes of a ceasefire agreement. Brent crude ended the month at $92 a barrel.
More specific news for the Japan market included the culmination of financial year end results for the majority of Topix constituents; despite tariffs and rising cost pressures, aggregate recurring profits were up +5.4% YoY (+11.5% including Softbank) and Net Profit +8.6% YoY. The sectors with the strongest earnings growth were electric appliances, banks and nonferrous metals with the weakest sectors those exposed to tariffs and higher input costs such as transportation equipment, marine transportation, steel and wholesale trade. Shareholder returns continued to improve with almost 60% of companies announcing dividend hikes and several companies announcing increases in buybacks – a figure that tends to grow throughout the year. Buybacks in FY25 were a record Y21trn in aggregate and are running slightly ahead YoY through the first 2 months of FY26. Announced guidance for FY2026 in aggregate is for +4.2% recurring profits YoY with electrical equipment, banks and wholesale trade guidance the strongest YoY and electric power and gas the weakest. Analyst consensus is currently calling for +9% earnings growth for the wider Topix (excluding Softbank Group). Other domestic economic news in May included the preliminary GDP readings for Q1 which came in at +2.1% QoQ annualised, above consensus forecasts of +1.6% and last year’s pace of +1%. Industrial production, which has been one of the drivers of Japan’s acceleration in GDP growth was up 0.8% MoM in April and the economy watchers survey, carried out by the Cabinet Office, showed a slight drop in the current conditions index to 40.8 but a rise in the future conditions index to 39.4. All Japan CPI ex-Fresh Food dropped slightly in April to +1.4%, due in part to government fuel subsidies, however due to the Iran conflict the outlook for further input cost led inflation is rising. The prospects for the BOJ to hike at the June meeting rose slightly over the month. The yield on the 10-year JGB rose from 2.52% to 2.66% through May and the Yen weakened back to Y/$ 159.3 following the MOF led FX intervention which began at the end of April.
Over the last month the outlook for the two key drivers of markets, the AI investment cycle and the Iran conflict has not materially changed however the blistering rally in shares of AI-related stocks has changed the level of attraction for certain holdings. We remain concerned about the potential for a largescale energy crisis with the prospects for a full re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz still unclear however we also remain positive about the development and scale of the AI revolution which is materially improving the outlook for productivity and efficiency across the globe. Japan seems very well positioned to us with its strength in various parts of the AI supply chain and at the same time seems likely to benefit from Takaichi’s supportive policy agenda domestically. We have slightly trimmed some of our AI exposure following the rally of the last two months but continue to hold a balanced portfolio which is positioned to benefit from the AI revolution whilst also holding defensive stocks and limited exposure to general economic cyclicality. FY results of fund holdings were on the whole encouraging, and we believe the fund offers superior growth potential than the market at a higher RoE and the slight valuation premium versus the Topix does not fully discount this.
Fund
The fund rose by 13.12% (JPY share class) in May, outperforming Topix (dividends reinvested) by +6.88%.
The fund’s outperformance versus Topix over the month was driven by both stock selection and sector allocation, though stock selection was the larger contributor. On sector allocation, the fund benefited from overweight positions in Commercial & Professional Services (primarily through the fund’s outsized position in recruitment platform Recruit Holdings), Technology Hardware & Equipment, and Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment, as well as underweights in Capital Goods, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences, Media & Entertainment, Real Estate Management & Development, and Transportation. Investors broadly favoured cyclicals over defensives, and as such the fund was hurt by overweight exposure to Health Care Equipment & Services. Turning to stock selection, top contributors were AI-related holdings including NAND flash memory specialist Kioxia, semiconductor materials producer Resonac, and semiconductor packaging maker Ibiden, all relative outperformers even among Japan’s AI/SPE names. Robotics and factory automation manufacturer Yaskawa, a beneficiary of the secular upturn in semiconductor production equipment investment driven by AI, also extended gains. Medtech equipment maker Terumo advanced after releasing a strong earnings outlook for both the existing business and recently acquired OrganOx, a maker of organ transplant devices. Other winners included Japan Post Bank, which guided for strong medium-term earnings and raised hopes for greater shareholder returns and payment processor GMO Payment Gateway, which delivered profit growth acceleration in Q2. System integrator Nomura Research Institute also rose after its briefing highlighted AI-driven efficiency gains and conceded its publicly disclosed midterm targets were conservative enough that they may be raised by the end of this year. On the other hand, technology and medical conglomerate Fujifilm lagged in Technology Hardware & Equipment, where AI demand meant investors were focused on capacitors and passive component names. Similarly, within Telecommunication Services, owning telecommunications operator KDDI instead of technology investment conglomerate SoftBank Group detracted from the fund’s performance; enthusiasm around SoftBank was lifted by reports of a possible OpenAI IPO and expectations that Arm could benefit from agentic AI-driven CPU demand. In Capital Goods, optical cable and component maker Fujikura lost value after guidance failed to meet high expectations. Construction company Taisei also fell sharply despite improving construction margins, with the absence of a buyback announcement viewed negatively alongside peers.
In May, we fully exited from our position in drugstore and food discounter Cosmos Pharma as we think its strategy of discounting prices to attract customers on flat gross margins will not change market perception around the limited profit growth outlook amid cost inflation. We used the proceeds to buy shares in another drugstore, Tsuruha, last month. We also sold power semiconductor chipmaker Rohm whose valuation now appears to offer us a less attractive risk/reward scenario given the uncertainty around its planned merger with Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric’s power device division after Denso retracted its takeover proposal. Finally, we sold Fujikura as weak guidance and growing reliance on external optical fibre sourcing ahead of its new plant add to our concerns that growth may decelerate over the next few years. We used the funds from Rohm and Fujikura to purchase a position in Lasertec. We think Lasertec’s dominant position in EUV photomask inspection remains intact, supported by technological leadership and the successful launch of the higher-throughput A200HIT, which can materially expand Actinic inspection into wafer fabs. Together with a more buoyant SPE market supported by stronger Intel investment, we think Lasertec is entering a multi-year order growth cycle through 2030 and beyond.
Facts & Documents
Facts
Fund Domicile: Luxembourg
Fund Type: UCITS SICAV
Fund Launch: 12 June 2014
Base Currency: JPY
Depositary, Administrator, Transfert Agent: BNP Paribas SA
Dealing: Each day with 1-day notice
Cut-off time: 12 pm CET
Management Company: Alma Capital Investment Management (LU)
Investment Manager: Alma Capital Investment Management (LU)
Fund Managers: James Pulsford, Tom Grew
Countries where the fund is registered:
Luxembourg, Austria, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore, Belgium, Ireland, Spain
Sustainability-related disclosures:
Environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria have been integrated in the investment decision-making process. An ESG analysis is conducted for all target companies. This is done prior to any investment, but also on an ongoing basis. In cases where the ESG analysis process flags material sustainability risks for a particular investment, the Investment Manager will not consider making the investment, and will look to divest when such material sustainability risks arise for a particular investment. No index has been designated as a reference benchmark for this sub-fund. Further information can be found in the prospectus of the sub-fund. The extent to which the above-mentioned characteristics are met will be included in the annual report of the fund, as from the first report issued after 1 January 2022.
Identifiers:
Institutional USD Hedged Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1013117160
Ticker: AEJIUHA LX
Launch: 12 Jun 2014
Institutional GBP Hedged Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1013116949
Ticker: AEJIGHA LX
Launch: 12 Jun 2014
Institutional EUR Hedged Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1013116782
Ticker: AEJIEHA LX
Launch: 10 Dec 2014
Institutional JPY Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1013116519
Ticker: AEJPIJA LX
Launch: 10 Dec 2014
Institutional GBP Unhedged Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1152097108
Ticker: AEKJEGC LX
Launch: 17 Feb 2015
Institutional EUR Unhedged Distribution share class
ISIN: LU1870374920
Ticker: AEJLIED LX
Launch: 8 Mar 2019
Institutional EUR Unhedged Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1870374508
Ticker: AEJLIEC LX
Launch: 4 Feb 2019
Retail Clean JPY Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1744752707
Ticker: AEJRCJC LX
Launch: 28 Apr 2022
Retail JPY Capitalisation share class
ISIN: LU1013117327
Ticker: AEJPRJA LX
Launch: 28 Apr 2022
Documents
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