Sompo Asset Management
expands its international footprint with Universal Investment

Sompo Asset Management, a leading Japanese asset manager with USD 29 billion in assets under management, has expanded its international footprint with the launch of the Sompo Japan Small Cap Value Equity UI fund, a sub-fund of Universal Investment Ireland UCITS Platform ICAV, in partnership with Universal Investment.

In line with Sompo Asset Management’s approach across equity investing, the fund deploys an active bottom-up investment approach. The fund pursues an objective to outperform the benchmark, the Russell/Nomura Small Cap Total Return Index by 3%. It integrates ESG considerations through a robust exclusion framework and is classified as an Article 8 fund under SFDR.

The partnership offers professional investors across Europe access to the Japanese small cap market through Universal Investment, meeting growing investor demand for differentiated equity strategies. It is a testimony to the continued growth of Universal Investment’s platform and its commitment to providing global asset managers with streamlined access to European fund distibution. Universal Investment Ireland acts as the Management Company and Administrator to the ICAV and the Fund. Universal Investment Luxembourg is responsible for fund distribution.

Founded in 1986 and part of Sompo Holdings Inc., one of the top three non-life insurance group in Japan, Sompo Asset Management brings a legacy of disciplined active management and risk-aware investing to the European fund landscape. The strategy is managed by Sompo Asset Management’s dedicated Japanese Equity Investment Team, comprised of 18 professionals with deep local expertise who identify undervalued Japanese small-cap equities by analysing the intrinsic value of individual stocks compared to market price, and invest over the mid-to-long term. The investment strategy has outperformed the benchmark since inception and leverages the firm’s long-standing proprietary Yasuda-Kasai Equity Valuation System (YES), a model that has supported the firm’s active value investment philosophy for over two decades and has consistently delivered stable excess returns. The fund will be managed by Mr. Shigeyoshi Fujiwara, CMA, CIIA, with nearly three decades of experience, who will act as Portfolio Manager.

Commenting on the launch, Marcus Kuntz, Group Head of Sales and Fund Distribution at Universal Investment, said: “We’re proud to welcome Sompo Asset Management to our platform, offering our partners access to the increasingly attractive Japanese market. Sompo’s deep expertise in Japanese equities, combined with a strong commitment to responsible investing, makes this strategy a compelling addition for European investors seeking targeted small-cap exposure in Asia. Our platform is designed to help ambitious managers like Sompo Asset Management expand into new markets.”

“At Sompo Asset Management, we are committed to active value investment. It is the core of our investment philosophy,” Mr. Shigeyoshi Fujiwara added. “All of our Japanese equity strategies are guided by a proprietary valuation model we’ve refined over more than three decades, giving us a disciplined and time-tested lens for identifying undervalued opportunities. This new fund brings that expertise to European investors, offering access to Japan’s dynamic small-cap market through a strategy rooted in long-term thinking and rigorous bottom-up research.”

^{This publication is a marketing communication and not a recommendation to buy or sell units or shares of investment funds. Investment decisions should only be made on the basis of the sales documents (key information document, prospectus and - published, annual and semi-annual reports), which also contain an overview of the relevant material contractual terms and are available free of charge from Universal Investment at www.universal-investment.com. Historical performance is no guarantee of similar performance in the future. This cannot be predicted. A summary of your investor rights can be found at https://www.universal-investment.com/-/media/Compliance/PDF/Ireland/Investor rights_UII_EN_08_22.pdf}

^{In addition, we would like to point out that Universal Investment Ireland may, in the case of funds for which it has made arrangements as management company for the distribution of shares/units with respect to such funds in EU member states, decide to cancel these arrangements in accordance with Article 93a of Directive 2009/65/EC and Article 32a of Directive 2011/61/EU, i.e. in particular by making a blanket offer to repurchase or redeem all corresponding shares/units held by investors in the relevant member state.}