Nomura Funds Ireland – Japan Small Cap Equity Fund
Overview
Our Nomura Japan Small Cap Equity strategy invests in Japanese companies with a market cap below JPY1 trillion at the time of investment that are attractively priced relative to their intrinsic values based on their assets, profitability and growth potential. The strategy is “unconstrained”, and employs a “barbell” approach with no style bias, investing in both value and growth stocks that are trading below their intrinsic value.
Our approach
- 100% bottom-up approach – identify undervalued companies relative to their intrinsic value, seeking companies with strong businesses, showing signs of positive change in fundamentals and governance, and expected to improve capital efficiency from changes in attitude towards shareholder returns.
- Diversified portfolio of 100 to 200 holdings.
- Blended approach assessing companies ranging from those that are undervalued to those with future growth potential, while considering opportunistic bets in search of potential returns.
Reasons to invest
- Unique investment opportunity – Many smaller companies in Japan have unique competitive advantages and growth drivers with limited sensitivity to economic fluctuations, and have the potential to raise their capital efficiency by improving governance.
- Opportunity in market inefficiency – Due to a lack of research and institutional ownership, Japanese small caps are generally misunderstood. Our portfolio managers are able to exploit these inefficiencies with their own research and visiting companies extensively.
- Experienced and dedicated team – One of the largest local internal research team of portfolio managers and analysts dedicated to small-caps in Japan.
SFDR* Classification: Article 6.
* EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
Potential significant risks
By focusing its investments in Japan, the fund will have greater exposure to the market, political and economic risks of that country than if it were more diversified across a number of countries. Shares of smaller companies may be more difficult to buy and sell than those of larger companies.
Investment Objective |
To achieve long-term capital growth through investment in an actively managed portfolio of Equity and Equity-Related Securities of small capitalisation companies in Japan. |
Fund Size |
USD 257.0 million (as at 31.10.2025) |
Investment Manager |
Nomura Asset Management U.K. Ltd. |
Lead Fund Manager |
Makoto Ito, CMA, |
Launch Date |
07.02.2020 |
Base Currency |
JPY |
Universe |
Morningstar category: Japan Small/Mid-Cap Equity |
Benchmark |
Russell/Nomura Small Cap Index (dividends reinvested) |
Domicile |
Ireland (Nomura Funds Ireland plc) |
Lead ISINs |
F JPY: IE00BJCW7L63 For additional share class information, please contact us. |
| Fund | Monthly Factsheet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class I JPY |
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| Class A JPY |
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For a full list of available share class documents including PRIIPs KIDs, please visit our fund documents page.
The lead share class fund literature is shown first in the above list. If any literature is not available in the above list for the share class you are invested in/interested in, please contact [email protected]
Project BRIDGE
In March 2022, Nomura Asset Management (“NAM”) announced the launch of Project BRIDGE.
Read more about Project BRIDGE
Nomura Funds Ireland plc is an open-ended investment company with variable capital, incorporated in Ireland on 13th April, 2006 under the Act with registration number 418598. The Fund has been authorised by the Central Bank as an UCITS pursuant to the UCITS Regulations. The Fund is structured as an umbrella fund consisting of different Sub-Funds each comprising one or more Classes. The Fund has segregated liability between each of its Sub-Funds.
Full information on the presented funds, which is relevant for an investment decision, can be found in the fund´s most recent sales prospectus, key information document (PRIIPs KID), key investor information document (UCITS KIID) – as appropriate for your relevant jurisdiction – and annual and semi-annual reports. The UCITS KIIDs are available in English and, for the PRIIPs KIDs, in the official language of the countries in which the fund is registered for distribution. This fund displays higher volatility due to its composition / the techniques used by the fund management, i.e. unit prices can fluctuate upwards or downwards within short periods of time. Performance in the past is no guarantee of future success. There can be no guarantee that the fund´s investment objective will actually be achieved.
A summary of investor rights in English and information on collective redress mechanisms are available at https://www.nomura-asset.co.uk/download/funds/how-to-invest/Summary_of_investor_rights.pdf . Nomura Asset Management U.K. Limited may at any time decide to terminate arrangements it may have made for the marketing of units of a fund in a member state other than its home member state.
