Nikko Asset Management and Osmosis Holdings, a UK-based sustainable investment manager, have entered into a legally binding agreement on 6 November to set up a strategic partnership.
The partnership gives the Tokyo-headquartered group exclusive distribution and client service rights in Asia Pacific (excluding Australia and New Zealand) as well as the Middle East for Osmosis investment products and strategies.
Nikko AM will also become a minority shareholder in Osmosis, subject to the approval of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, and have a seat on the company’s board of directors.
Osmosis, which was founded in 2009, is a research-based, quantitative investment manager focused on generating superior risk-adjusted returns with “better environmental outcomes,” according to a Nikko AM press release. It believes that companies that are more resource efficient are more likely to outperform their peers over the long term.
As a result, Osmosis portfolios overweight resource efficient companies and underweight or short “inefficient” companies as identified by the Osmosis Model of Resource Efficiency. The firm manages about $13.6bn is sustainable assets, as of 30 September 2023.
Nikko AM, which has around $219.2bn of assets under management, is one of the largest asset managers in Asia, and operates in 11 countries and regions.
