Daiwa SB Investments (DSBI), which launched its first Luxembourg domiciled Sicav, the Japan Equity Fundamental Active Fund, in November 2013, aims to target new markets for the fund.

Following cross-border approval for the fund for the UK, Germany and Austria just last month, Daiwa is now looking at applying for approvals in Asia, the Middle East and certain countries in South America. This follows a strong launch for the fund, according to Trevor Langford, director and London-based head of marketing at DSBI.

“We have enjoyed a strong launch for the fund and already have close to $30m in assets under management (AuM),” he says. “Importantly, we have a strong mix of clients who have invested in the fund to date, including pension funds, asset managers and insurance firms from across the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and Asia."

"Additionally, in January we received cross-border approval for the UK, Germany and Austria and we will now be applying for approvals in Asia, the Middle East and South America. There is a lot of interest in the fund and we expect this to continue.”

Interest in Japanese equities remains strong and Daiwa will be looking to capitalise on this throughout 2014, he adds.

DSBI’s fund is designed to generate stable excess returns versus the Tokyo Stock Price Index, founded on intensive fundamental research and utilising DSBI’s proprietary valuation and earnings momentum growth tools.

An unconstrained investment style gives freedom to the portfolio manager to invest in both growth and value stocks, according to the firm. Investors can choose between different share classes including sterling, US dollar and euro, which are all hedged, and a Japanese yen base currency.

The launch has allowed DSBI to expand its client base from its London office. Due to the pooled fund nature of the Sicav, smaller firms are now be able to invest, Langford notes, including family offices, hedge funds, private banks, fund of funds, as well as smaller pension funds and other asset managers.

Previously DSBI’s segregated funds were only open to those able to invest a minimum of $50m. Typically this meant that DSBI was only dealing with institutions with at least $1bn in AuM.