NAVF
celebrates 5th anniversary with cumulative investment
gain of 103%
LONDON - 26th February 2025 - Nippon Active
Value Fund plc, a LSE-listed investment trust that engages in
activist campaigns targeting small and mid-cap stocks in Japan, has
celebrated its 5th anniversary with a cumulative NAV
gain of 103% since launch in 2020.
The investment trust's performance saw it win a
Citywire award in 2024 for Best Japanese trust over three years to
August 31. NAVF recorded a net asset total return of 51.1% over
that timeframe.
Rosemary Morgan, Chairman of NAVF, said: "NAVF
has outperformed Japan focused trusts and the wider investment
trust sector since launch. The success of our approach is
underscored by the consistent investment performance, small
discount to net-asset-value and our absorbing of Abrdn Japan
Investment Trust & Atlantis Japan Growth by large shareholder
majority votes."
Paul ffolkes Davis, Chairman of Rising Sun
Management, NAVF's investment advisor, said: "NAVF offers British
investors a three-fold play: diversification, compelling valuations
and an opportunity to ride the activist wave being encouraged by
the Japan government's increasingly effective governance and reform
policies."
Diversification
Typically, British investors look mainly to the US to
complement their primary UK equity allocations. NAVF shows that
diversification into Japan is both performance enhancing and gives
UK investors access to companies that are less correlated to the UK
and US markets.
Compelling
valuations
Small and mid-cap Japan
companies trade on low P/E ratios (often below 10x vs S&P 500's
25x ) with about 1/3 of all Japan listed (TOPIX) companies trading
below book value, with many having no debt and substantial balance
sheet cash. This provides both a margin of operational safety
but also the means to fund dividend increases and share
buybacks.
Wave of
activism
Activist strategies are
particularly well placed to target and unlock value from the
Japanese market given its unique characteristics. Private equity
and activists have $10s of billions to invest in Japan where they
have been underweight. The number of activist funds in Japan has
tripled in a decade to over 40 - now even investors not generally
associated with activism, such as Silchester International
Investors, Neuberger Berman and GMO, are embracing its
tactics.
Mr ffolkes Davis added: "What has underpinned
NAVF's approach is its success in picking company targets in Japan
and working with them to take shareholder friendly measures such as
board changes, higher dividend payments, asset sales and to boost
company valuations and investor returns."
"In recent years, the 'Abenomics' corporate
governance and economic reforms (initiated in former Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe in 2014) have borne fruit," Mr ffolkes Davis continued.
"Japan's GDP is growing again, companies are restructuring to
provide better ROIC, corporate managers are increasingly forced to
focus on delivering better financial performance for shareholders
and a number of takeovers/MBOs at premium exit prices have taken
place."
Ends
NOTES TO
EDITORS
About
NAVF
Nippon Active Value Fund ("NAVF") is an Investment Trust on the
official list and premium segment of the London Stock
Exchange. The investment advisor of the Fund is Rising Sun
Management Limited. NAVF is targeting attractive levels of capital
growth for shareholders from the active management of a focused
portfolio of quoted small and mid-cap Japanese equity investments.
The investment advisor, Rising Sun Management, targets companies
which are attractive, undervalued and have a substantial proportion
of their market capitalisation held in cash and/or listed
securities and/or realisable assets.
Media
Enquiries:
navf@@peregrinecommunications.com
+44 203 178 6868
LEI: 213800JOFEGZJYS21P75
