HEAD-TO-HEAD: AB vs Nomura

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The manager of the AB fund, Atsushi Horikawa, became the fund’s sole portfolio manager and chief investment officer for Japan value equities in April this year, following the retirement of his predecessor and co-manager Katsuaki Ogata, according to Yew.

Horikawa was appointed as co-manager of the fund in March 2012 and had been supporting the strategy as an analyst since 2002. In total, he has 28 years of investment experience.

He is supported by an eight-member analyst team, sharing the research resources which  other Japan equity strategies. Each team member has an average of 19 years of investment experience and sits within a broader 51-member global value equity research team.

The back-up manager of the fund is Taro Hirano, a senior analyst who has been with the firm for 13 years.

There have been no departures within the Japan team in the last five years, Yew noted.

The portfolio manager of the Nomura fund, since its inception in July 2000, is Kentaro Takayanagi. He has 26 years of investment experience with the majority of his career dedicated to managing Japanese equities.

He is supported by a team of six portfolio managers, who have around 13 years of firm tenure on average, dedicated to managing the strategy. The team is also supported by the firm’s 25-member buy-side Japan equity research team.

The back up manager of the fund is Yoshihiro Miyazaki, who has worked together with Takayanagi on the fund since 2005.

Yew has no concerns with both teams and believes that both are very experienced and are adequately resourced.

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