Capital Group to Enter Japanese Market

Capital Group, parent company of the American Funds, is entering the Japanese market this month with the launch of two mutual funds that it will sell through Japan’s largest broker, Nomura Holdings, Reuters reports. One fund is a global equity fund and the second is a global equity and bond fund.

Capital Group is expanding into Japan now that it has extended its business into Canada and Europe, said Capital International Vice President and Senior Manager Takashi Takamura.

“We are hugely lagging behind the others in entering that particular market, but in the greater scheme of things, say, in the next 100 or 200 years, a little bit of delay at the start is negligible,” Takamura said.

Established in 1986, Capital International to date has focused only on institutional clients.

“We have always acknowledged Japan has strong fundamentals,” Takamura added, “and now the times have shifted to where individual investors invest by using funds in light of the aging society and worries about pension. The need for asset management for retail investors is on the rise in Japan.”

In the next two to three years, Capital intends to offer an additional four funds, one of which will invest in Japanese equities.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.

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