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12/10/202317/10/2023News

WEBINAR | Industry consolidation in Japan is happening; an opportunity that cannot be missed

Fragmented industries, entrenched managements and companies’ defence tactics hampering takeovers and weighing on competitiveness have long been the distinctive features of Japan’s economic landscape. Domestic government pressure such as new guidelines to promote M&A are starting to reshape the corporate environment and spurring consolidation.

In this webinar held 17 October 2023, Rupert Kimber, coming recently from a field visit in Japan, Fund Manager of Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Taiko Japan explained to us how the consolidation is now working. To illustrate the industry consolidation, he will use Yoshimura Food and Scallop as a case study; as well as other portfolio holdings in the consolidation space.

Webinar link

Link to Rupert Kimber’s trip observations in Japan September 2023

Link to webinar with Mr Motohisa Yoshimura, CEO of Yoshimura Food

During this webinar held on 16 June 2021, Rupert Kimber, Fund Manager of the Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Taiko Japan, had the pleasure to host Mr Motohisa Yoshimura. The CEO of Yoshimura Food, presented his development strategy and gave us an insight about how his company is taking advantage of the changes in Japan’s corporate landscape.

27/09/202328/09/2023ESG News, NewsClimate change, EnvironmentAntoine Turrettini

Water: chronicle of a crisis foretold

While water seemed inexhaustible almost everywhere in Europe, climate change and the increase in periods of drought have made a scarce commodity a critical resource. To tackle the crisis, major investments are needed, as well as a profound change in our consumption habits.

27/09/202328/09/2023NewsInfrastructure EquityDavid Giboudeau, Mark Ebert

Listed infrastructure: essential links in a changing world

Infrastructure companies provide the physical framework essential to the smooth running of a community. Utilities, transport, energy, schools, hospitals, as well as communications, water and waste treatment, all provide the framework conditions that are essential to the smooth running of our modern society.

Naturally, societal transformations go hand in hand with the upgrading of the infrastructure that underpins their development.

27/09/202327/09/2023NewsInfrastructure EquityJean Keller

Infrastructure: a sector that can no longer be ignored

QUAERO CAPITAL has made significant investments in the infrastructure sector, both in listed infrastructure and in the financing of projects in private markets. This asset class offers a number of advantages in terms of both the nature of the investments and the specific characteristics of the sector. In any case, including a portion of infrastructure in a diversified portfolio seems very appropriate in the current environment.

27/09/202328/09/2023NewsInfrastructure Equity, OutlookJean-Pierre Petit

Infrastructure and real interest rates

Infrastructure is an attractive asset class overall for a number of reasons: diversification in portfolios, contractual and regular cash flows, resilience over the economic cycle (low beta), vital importance to society (digital and energy transition) and the benefits of longevity.

Protection against inflation

Investors also often see the infrastructure asset class as a good way of hedging against inflation. One of the main characteristics of this sector is that the companies in question often benefit from price indexation formulas built into their contracts. But the definition of infrastructure continues to evolve and its scope to expand. It is therefore essential to take a nuanced view of each asset to check whether it really has the usual characteristics of the infrastructure sector.

27/09/202327/09/2023ESG News, NewsInfrastructure Equity, Responsible Investing, Responsible InvestmentLouise Turrettini

A sector with impact

Current announced infrastructure spending plans make it the “number one” sector for global capital investment over the next ten years. Although, the infrastructure sector is intrinsically environmentally challenging in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, environmental pollution, habitat destruction and species extinction, we also believe there is an immense opportunity to promote responsible investment in this sector.

10/07/202313/07/2023NewsRegional EquityRupert Kimber

Webinar | After a long night, light is returning to the land of the rising sun

After a few previous false starts, the Japanese market—forgotten by investors for more than 30 years—finally appears ready for a new beginning. Japan’s economy has undergone significant changes, even though the market is still not completely aware of them. A number of serious initiatives have also been implemented by the Tokyo Stock Exchange to encourage businesses to maximize shareholder value. In this webinar held on 13 July 2023, Rupert Kimber, fund manager of Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Taiko Japan, provides an outlook on the changing landscape in the Japanese market and the opportunities he is investing in.

05/07/202306/07/2023NewsRegional EquityMartina Turner, Olivier Ken

WEBINAR | Decarbonising the food industry

In this webinar held on 6 July 2023, Nancy Hirshberg, agribusiness and environmental expert and member of the Accessible Clean Energy and Net Zero Emission funds’ expert panel, talks about the decarbonisation of the food industry. Martina Turner and Olivier Ken, managers of Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Accessible Clean Energy and Quaero Capital Funds (Lux) – Net Zero Emission explain how they rely on Nancy’s expertise to determine their investment decisions in this sector.

22/06/202322/06/2023NewsRegional EquityRowan Chaplin

A different way to benefit from the positive trends in Japan

Japan has been the bete noire of many asset allocators’ portfolios for most of my 34 years managing money there, and investors continue to be underweighted from an asset allocation perspective. The throwaway line of ‘it is cheap, but the value cannot be realised’ is no longer true. Change is happening and as Mr Kikuchi the Mizuho Strategist noted, there were 5 activist proposals in 2015 and this had risen to 60 in 2022. The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) clarified what was expected to be considered by Japanese companies, instead of insisting what should be published. Cost of capital, return on invested capital (ROIC), return on equity (ROE), and other appropriate measures came out during March. All these measures are designed to make investing in Japan more attractive.

21/06/202322/06/2023NewsRegional EquityJean-Pierre Petit

What does the future hold for Japanese equities?

For almost 35 years, Japan has been the victim of the collapse of one of the most gigantic double bubbles in history (real estate and equities), which explains the structural underperformance of the Japanese market for 3 decades (see chart below). The Japanese market now accounts for just over 6% of world stock market capitalisation, compared with over 50% at the peak of the great bubble at the end of 1989.