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 30/06/2026Market Review and Outlook
The Topix ended up with a more muted performance in June than the spectacular gains made in April and May however several themes continued to run, especially early in the month. Stocks related to the AI theme performed very strongly with investors continuing to re-appraise the positive impact of the capex cycle for data centres and the knock-on impact of this on various parts of the supply chain. News over the month spurred this on, including the blowout earnings and guidance release of Micron on June 24th, reports of long term contracting in the memory space, the upward revision of leading optical cable maker Fujikura’s medium term forecasts, and further largescale capex announcements from memory chip makers and data centre investors including Softbank’s plans for Europe’s largest AI data centre in France. Over the month, consensus estimates for the growth of the wafer fabrication market moved upwards, propelling SPE stocks higher in particular. The other major global macro news over the month that drove markets was the announcement of an interim agreement between the US and Iran to cease hostilities on June the 15th. This in turn led to sharp drops in the prices of various commodities with the Brent crude price dropping from $92 at the start of the month to $72 by the end; oil stocks, shippers and others exposed positively to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz were among the largest laggards over the month.
In domestic news, as was widely anticipated, the BoJ carried out the next step in its path to monetary policy normalisation by hiking the base rate by 25bps to 1.0%, representing the highest base rate since 1995. Alongside the potential cessation of hostilities in the Middle East, the good news is that Japan’s domestic economy continues to perform steadily. The leading Tokyo core CPI came in at 1.6% in June, a similar reading to the last few months and the Japan consumer sentiment index continued to rise, up to 33.5 vs 32.9 in May. There continues to be even brighter news coming from the corporate sector with the quarterly tankan survey released at the end of June showing numbers that significantly exceeded expectations. The large manufacturers index which was expected to be roughly flat QoQ was instead up to +22 vs +17 in March with the gauge for large non-manufacturers at +37, the best reading since the 1990s. Both inflation and capex expectations were stronger than expected with 3-year corporate inflation expectations now at +2.6% and large manufacturer capex expectations +11.5% YoY. Alongside the supportive policy agenda of the Takaichi administration which in June announced an investment budget of Y370trn to 2040 in 17 identified ‘strategic areas’ as well submitting plans for the consumption tax on food & drinks to be cut from April 2027, this news continues to point to a strong and broadening domestic economy and an environment supportive of further rate hikes by the BoJ.
With the sharp rise in share prices and expectations for the well documented AI capex boom having had another leg up in June, as well as indications of a broadening out in economic performance and less risk associated with the Iran war, a leading question facing investors is at what point is it time to cut positioning in AI related names and switch into opportunities elsewhere. Over the last month we have slightly reduced overall AI exposure but have yet to materially go ‘underweight’ the theme. Our portfolio has become marginally more economically geared than previously but also retains strong positioning in our favoured defensive stocks too. The full year results of fund holdings were overall encouraging, and we believe the fund offers superior growth potential to the market and a higher RoE which is not fully discounted by its modest constituent valuation premium versus the Topix.
Fund
The fund rose by 5.06% (JPY share class) in June, outperforming Topix (dividends reinvested) by +4.01%.
The fund’s outperformance versus the Topix over the month was driven by both sector allocation and stock selection, with sector allocation contributing slightly more. On sector allocation, the fund benefitted from overweight positions in Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment and Commercial & Professional Services, as well as underweights in Automobiles & Components, Capital Goods, and Telecommunication Services. This was only slightly offset by overweight positions in Health Care Equipment & Services and Software & Services. On stock selection, upward analyst revisions to the WFE outlook, reflecting stronger AI-driven semiconductor investment, supported several of the fund’s holdings that outperformed their respective sectors. These include SPE cleaning equipment maker Screen, NAND flash memory specialist Kioxia, factory automation pneumatic equipment maker SMC, and electronics conglomerate Panasonic, which supplies battery backup units (BBUs) for server racks. KDDI also outperformed telecom peers, particularly SoftBank Group, following reports that OpenAI’s IPO would be delayed. On the other hand, the main detractors were Japan Post Bank, sportswear maker Asics, and industrial conglomerates Mitsubishi Electric and Hitachi. There was no company-specific news behind these moves. The weakness likely reflected profit-taking in Japan Post Bank which has led the banking sector year to date and Mitsubishi Electric, whose new mid-term plan failed to materially impress, alongside continued investor rotation into selective AI-related names at the expense of Asics and Hitachi, whose IT services are seen as exposed to AI-driven displacement risk.
June was a more active month during which we made several trades. We sold our position in construction company Taisei, as we believe expectations around margin expansion have been reflected in the share price, while growth investments have become more of a priority than shareholder returns, particularly buybacks. This created a source of funds within Capital Goods to purchase SMC, where we see the post-results share price decline as having discounted risks of elevated BCP costs. We therefore view the stock as offering an attractive risk-reward profile, with potential to catch up with other factory automation peers, provided semiconductor investment remains strong. In Health Care Equipment & Services we sold medical data company JMDC, as we believe investor interest will take time to return, despite remaining convinced by management quality and its competitive position, as well as the upfront investment in AI platforms. We instead bought IVD instruments and reagents manufacturer Sysmex, as we believe the company’s forecasts now reflect risks of earnings weakness in China. We were also encouraged by the new leadership’s pivot away from expansion into new areas and towards a renewed focus on the core business, supported by new product launches and market share gains following the arrangement with Siemens, which allows the company to distribute haemostasis products independently in Western markets. We also sold air-conditioning maker Daikin, as we believe the positive shift in capital policy is now reflected in valuation, while it may take time for execution of the company’s strategy to translate into profit growth. In its place, we purchased shares in TOTO where we see stabilization in the company’s toilet and housing equipment business while the SPE segment, particularly electrostatic chucks (ESCs) exposed to the NAND flash market, should continue to offer a strong growth outlook driven by both new and replacement demand. Finally, we added fibre cable and thermal solutions company Furukawa Electric, as we are encouraged by its exposure to data centre-related demand, particularly in air and water cooling for servers as well as optical cables. We are also positive on the strong adoption of its cooling devices by hyperscaler clients, as well as rising utilisation rates at its optical cable plants, which still retain in-house capacity to capture demand over the next two years. Tight industry conditions are also supporting price increases in optical cables, providing an additional tailwind.
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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