Aberdeen invests in GLG Japan fund after dip

Aberdeen Asset Management’s multi-manager team has added GLG’s flagship Japanese equity fund as a new position in its £293.6m Cautious Managed fund.

Scott Spencer, fund manager at Aberdeen, said Mr Harker’s £1.2bn CoreAlpha fund has now been included in the Cautious vehicle and has been topped up in the £94.8m Equity Managed, £68.7m Constellation and £54.8m Balanced Managed portfolios.

The move comes as the GLG fund, co-managed with Neil Edwards and Jeff Atherton, has suffered in terms of shorter-term performance.

The fund has delivered a top-quartile 9.6 per cent over five years to July 16 compared with an average loss in the IMA Japan sector of 9.2 per cent, according to FE Analytics. The benchmark Topix index has lost 6.6 per cent over the term, the data provider added.

However, over three years the fund has delivered a bottom-quartile gain of 1.5 per cent compared with the IMA Japan sector average gain of 15.3 per cent, FE Analytics said. The Topix has gained 13.8 per cent during that time. “Given the recent dip in performance we have decided to increase our stake in the GLG fund,” Mr Spencer said.

“It is a well owned fund for us and we are conscious it can be quite lumpy [or volatile] in terms of performance but if you still believe in the managers it is usually a good buying opportunity when they have had a period of relative underperformance.”

Mr Spencer said the additions were made last week, including the new stake in Cautious Managed, where the fund has not featured before.

The manager said for the Japan sector review, he looked at 20 offerings and only one other fund had a position in Mr Harker’s top holding Sony.

“But even that was only a 2 per cent position compared with Mr Harker’s 6 per cent holding,” Mr Spencer said.

“People are saying Sony is not a good business but the sum of its parts make the valuation worth more than it is trading on and that’s where the opportunity is with the fund.”