Finding Compelling Opportunities in Japan

Asset Value Investors (AVI) has been finding compelling opportunities in Japan for over three decades. Despite a year filled with challenges and volatility, Japanese equities fared relatively well.

Many investors may be surprised to hear of Japan’s resilience during what was a difficult year for global equity markets. After all, Japan has suffered from stagnant growth and an ageing population for a prolonged period of time. However, Japan has a relatively stable economy and the attitude towards corporate governance has improved significantly since the onset of ‘Abenomics’. Japan is now the world’s second largest activist market. Activist events have risen 110%* over five years, as pressure from shareholders continued to intensify. This was accompanied by a surge in corporate buybacks as cash was returned to investors.

Excess cash is one of the things that the investment team at Asset Value Investors (AVI) look for in Japan. AVI’s portfolio of 20-25 stocks are all companies that have been thoroughly examined by the investment team to find value, quality, and an event to realise the upside. Key to the strategy is to build relationships with company management, actively working together to improve shareholder value. While AVI can launch public campaigns, it aims to work behind closed doors with management to find mu- tually beneficial solutions. The depth of the investment team provides AVI the resources to undertake detailed and targeted research.

In 2022, our engagement was mostly behind the scenes. Over 120 meetings were held with 26 portfolio companies and 24 detailed letters or presentations were sent to these companies. This engagement is well supported by the broader changes in the attitudes of Japanese management as they are encouraged by the Japanese Corporate Governance Code to better allocate capital. The result is long term sustainable improvements in returns for investors.

As anyone who has invested in Japan will know, change takes time. Discovering overlooked and under researched investment opportunities requires a long-term approach. A long-term time horizon aligns AVI with the interests of the management to work together on creating shareholder value.

The companies AVI invests in have cash on their balance sheets and attractive business models with either stable earnings or structural growth trends to ensure corporate value is growing.

In 2018, AVI launched the now c. £149m* AVI Japan Opportunity Trust (AJOT). The strategy’s first four years bears witness to the success of this approach, with a strong NAV total return and outperformance of its Japan small-cap benchmark. AVI’s aim is to be a constructive, stable partner and to bring our expertise – garnered over three decades of investing in Japan. We are optimistic about the macro environment in Japan. The weak Yen makes Japan highly cost-competitive, both for tourism and manufacturing. Our portfolio includes a variety of sectors, with strong exposure to the domestic Japanese economy. Inflation has returned after a 40-year absence and with wage growth and increased spending, we expect to see better allocation of capital and improved productivity, which would support returns for investors. AVI is well positioned to capture this long-term opportunity with a unique investment approach and established track record.