St James Place : announces addition of Japan Fund manager

St. James's Place, the wealth management group, today announces a change to the management of its Japan Fund, demonstrating its commitment to offer clients access to globally leading investment managers and help clients achieve financial wellbeing.

The change, which takes effect from 19 March 2021, sees Comgest, a global investment management firm founded in 1985, added to the fund, forming a multi-manager solution with the existing manager, Nippon Value Investors.

Each manager will be responsible for 50% of the fund, allowing for greater diversification with exposure to different investment styles and resulting in a smoother return profile for clients.

Comgest is a leading global investment management firm with a specialist approach to Japanese, European, emerging market and global equities. Its lead fund managers on the St. James's Place Japan fund will be Richard Kaye and Chantana Ward, who have over 20 years' experience of investing in Japan, ten of which have been spent working together on Comgest's Japan equity strategy.

Tom Beal, Chief Investment Officer, St. James's Place, says: 'As part of our ongoing commitment to help clients achieve financial wellbeing in a world worth living in, we are continually looking to provide clients with a broad range of funds and fund managers that encourage greater diversification and give access to a wide pool of investment talent.

'The current manager of our Japan fund has a distinct value approach to investment management. Adding Comgest will allow stock selection to play a larger role in the pursuit of investment returns, by bringing a quality growth style to the fund and therefore increased diversification opportunities.

'Our focus remains on designing innovative investment strategies that offer value to clients in meeting their long-term investment objectives.'

Chantana Ward, co-lead Portfolio Manager of the Japan equity strategy at Comgest, says: 'We're delighted to be partnering with St. James's Place on their Japan fund. Comgest's long-term investment strategy, focused on sustainable growth companies, makes Japan an exciting market for our team of stock pickers. Our on-the ground team in Tokyo and ability to implement a long-term investment horizon create a real edge in this under-researched market. The fund offers investors access to a concentrated selection of high-quality franchises, benefitting from exposure to both changing dynamics in Japan and dynamic growth in neighbouring Asia.'

Comgest has been a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment since 2010, and in 2020 was assigned an A+ score on all three pillars of the assessment. They support the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures and the UK Stewardship Code, amongst a number of other international and local initiatives.