Very excited for Tokyo-based Yuki Investments. The team traveled to Paris early last month to accept the 2018 European Fund Award for Best Ireland Asset Management Company in the 4 to 7 rated funds category.
The Yuki team then continued on to London for the 28th Annual U.K. Thompson Reuters Lipper Fund Awards event on March 14th, where the Yuki Japan Rebounding Growth Fund won the 2018 U.K. Lipper Fund Award for the Japan category. Portfolio Manager Takayuki Oshitani proudly accepted the award, the second European Fund Award for Yuki. (http://www.european-funds-trophy.eu/en/template.php?menu=winners2018).
After posting a 55% net return for 2017, massively outperforming the Topix, the strategy notched a positive return in 1Q2018 against a down market. Assets in the UCITS have also grown to the $300mln level. So happy for the Yuki team, who have remained true to their craft in Japan growth equities. Tackling research challenges, maintaining great communication within the team, arriving at unique insights, having conviction around ideas and consistent execution – these are the hallmarks Yuki shares with other managers seeking to count themselves as among the world's best.
Lipper Fund Awards are based on the Lipper Leader ratings for Consistent Return. The awards are calculated using a utility function based on the effective return over multiple non-overlapping periods: three-, five-, and ten-year horizons. The calculations over multiple periods ensure that all periods in which a fund underperforms the average of its peer group are identified.
In addition, Lipper uses a utility function based on behavioral finance theory to penalize periods of underperformance, with more significant weightings given to excess negative returns. This methodology ensures that the winners of the Lipper Fund Awards are funds that have provided superior consistency and relative risk-adjusted returns compared to a group of similar funds.