Fund overview
The Royal London Japan Growth Fund aims to maximise capital growth over the medium to long term by investing in Japanese companies. The fund manager looks to take advantage of market inefficiencies through a number of modest, risk controlled macro and sector bets. His approach focuses on the value of traded equity, and he will not hesitate to sell highly regarded companies if he can no longer see upside to the stock price.
Manager
This fund is being managed on an interim basis by Jonathan McClure. Jonathan is a senior Fund Manager for RLAM Japanese investments. He joined United Assurance in 1996, when he returned to active fund management, after being based in Tokyo. United Assurance were subsequently taken over by RLAM in 2001. Jonathan has specialised in Japanese markets throughout his investment career, gaining early fund management experience with Buckmaster and Moore before moving into institutional stockbroking with De Zoete and Bevin (later BZW) and Schroder Securities. Jonathan holds a degree in Law from King’s College, London and is a qualified barrister.
Investment approach
A pragmatic approach is taken to portfolio management incorporating macro and stock level considerations, aiming to identify winners and losers for mid to long term growth opportunities. The focus is on identifying market inefficiencies, with the perceived value of a stock taking priority over received wisdom concerning the quality of the associated company.
The fund manager does not trade on news flow; instead he focuses on liquidity and identifying value stocks with relative underperformance.
One of Jonathan's main aims is to consistently shift assets from companies which have outperformed into companies with a history of recent share price underperformance. By doing so, Jonathan is able to crystallise profits from the best performing, and possibly over bought stocks, and invest in good quality over sold stocks.