OP-Japan Stars

Starshine from far from the East

OP-Japan Stars Fund provides your assets with an investment vehicle which mainly invests its assets blue chip stocks in the Japanese equity market. The fund applies no specific style weighting but the portfolio always consists of the best-of-breed Japanese stocks picked up by the local portfolio manager from a wide range of sectors and companies of various size.

  • The target market is Japan, the world's third largest economy.
  • The fund is managed from Japan by highly experienced and successful portfolio managers focusing on Japan.

The fund is managed by Invesco Asset Management.

Subscription fee Annual management fee Redemption fee
1,00 % 1,60 % 1,00 %

Owner-customer can buy and sell the fund’s units without charges. Investing systematically is possible for all without a subscription fee. Fund units generate OP bonuses.

OP-Japan Stars is represented by stellar stocks in the Japanese equity market. The fund invests only in blue chip companies which have a positive cash flow and are active in increasing shareholder value. The local presence of portfolio management in Japan combined with in-depth investment research enables the stellar stocks to find their way to the OP-Japan Stars fund.

The fund (gross of fees) declined 3.53%, underperforming the benchmark (TOPIX Total Return Index) return of -2.05% in Japanese yen terms.

During the month, both stock selection and sector allocation were hit by risk-off trades amid concerns over inflation, interest rate hikes and recession in the US and Europe. At the sector level, an overweight in Services at the expense of Transportation Equipment, Retail Trade and Construction hurt performance. On the other hand, an underweight in Electric Appliances contributed.

At the stock level, shares of Ito-En, the largest green tea leaves and beverage maker in Japan, rebounded amid improving earnings expectations thanks to price hike plans combined with hot weather in late June. On the negative front, sell-side downgrades triggered profit-taking from a leading IT security company Trend Micro even though the company currently enjoys robust order growth, especially in Asia. In addition, indiscriminate technology stock sell-off continued to rock shares of HOYA, an optical component maker with dominant market share in niche products in the IT as well as life care space, despite achieving robust earnings growth.

While the prospect of monetary policy tightening and the threat of a recession in the US and Europe rocked stock markets in June, Japanese equities demonstrated resilience. The TOPIX Price and Nikkei 225 Indexes pulled back by 2.19% and 3.25%, ending the month at 1,870.82 and 26,393.04. During the month, such risk-off trades mostly hit mega-cap stocks, and small-cap stocks hovered. Accordingly, the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market Index moderately declined by 0.81%.

Sector-wise, domestic sectors, such as Electric Power & Gas, Foods, Construction and Land Transportation, rose in a declining market. Meanwhile, sectors sensitive to the global economy, such as Marine Transportation, Iron & Steel, Electric Appliances and Precision Instruments, underperformed.

OP-Japan Stars (Fund) is an equity fund which mainly invests its assets in the Japanese equity market. The Fund does not apply any specific style weighting but the best-of-breed Japanese stocks identified by the investment team are always represented in the portfolio. The equity-linked instruments' share of the Fund's value may vary between 75% and 105%.

The Fund basically has 30‒60 equities but the number may vary depending on the market situation and the view of portfolio managers. The Fund mainly invests directly in equities.

The Fund may invest in standardised and non-standardised derivative contracts in order to hedge against the risk of adverse market movements, to replace direct investments and to otherwise promote effective portfolio management. The Fund's
portfolio management makes investment decisions on the basis of the prevailing market view at the time. The Fund’s investment decisions specifically highlight the portfolio manager’s view of individual companies.

The Fund’s benchmark index is TOPIX TR. With active investing, the Fund seeks to outperform its benchmark index in the long term. The Fund mainly takes notable active risk and it may differ significantly from the composition, weights and risk level of the benchmark index.

The Fund promotes environmental and social characteristics and, to ensure it, uses environmental, social and governance (ESG) analysis and excludes certain investments. 

Exclusion: The Fund excludes from its active direct investments controversial weapon manufacturers, mining companies producing thermal coal, power companies using thermal coal, tobacco companies, and companies that have breached international standards and where engagement has been unsuccessful.  The list of exclusions is public. In addition to general exclusion rules, the Fund does not invest in companies whose principal business is in unconventional oil and gas extraction.

Use of ESG data in the investment analysis: ESG factors are considered in the investment process with the help of data by an external ESG service provider and the ESG tool developed internally by OP Asset Management. Considering ESG factors in the investment process means, for example, that the risks and opportunities related to the environment, society and governance are made transparent using selected indicators from each area.  

Violations of international standards: The Fund is screened regularly for non-compliances with international standards. In the event that a non-compliance is detected, an influencing process is begun with the company in question. The aim is to make non-compliant companies change their practices and begin to comply with international standards in their operations. If influencing proves fruitless, the company may be removed from the Fund portfolio and placed on the exclusion list.

Minimum share of sustainable investments: In accordance with the minimum amount stated below, the Fund allocates investments into companies whose business promotes one or more UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) without harming other sustainability factors or objectives. Sustainable investments are determined using OP Asset Management’s analysis model which is based on an external service provider’s SDG and sustainability data. 

Shareholders’ meetings: The Fund votes in shareholders’ meetings through a service provider in line with OP Fund Management Company Ltd’s shareholder engagement principles that take responsibility aspects into account.

Assessing good governance practices: Analysing the target company’s governance is an important part of the investment process. To us, good governance is a key foundation for any company’s financial success, regardless of sector. When assessing governance, some of the areas considered include the appropriateness of the target company’s administrative organisation, the target company’s actions in relation to its personnel, and the target company’s rewarding and taxation practices. In assessing good governance, we use an external service provider’s analysis and our own qualitative analysis if no external data is available. We screen the funds regularly to check them against the criteria of good governance. Minimum limits apply for these criteria.

More details Basic data, performance and fact figures

Basic data

Fund manager
INVESCO ASSET MANAGEMENT (JAPAN) LIMITED
Benchmark index
Topix TR
Start date
15.12.2016
ISIN
FI4000223961
fund serie
Accumulation unit
Fund size
72 Meur
Serie value (27.03.)
137,49 EUR
Monthly review
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Key Information Document
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Rules
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Accumulated profit (27.03)

1mth 3mth 6mth 1 y 3 y p.a. 5 y p.a.
OP-Japan Stars A +3,66 % +8,64 % +5,75 % +9,98 % −0,97 % +3,01 %
Benchmark +4,16 % +14,33 % +14,10 % +26,65 % +6,19 % +8,06 %

Yearly performance

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 YTD
OP-Japan Stars A +19,18 % +4,07 % +3,51 % −11,95 % +6,40 % +6,94 %
Benchmark +21,44 % +3,70 % +8,76 % −9,29 % +15,98 % +12,53 %

Key figures

Volatility 12 m vola 12m Sharpe 12 m Duration
OP-Japan Stars A 13,83 % - -
Benchmark index - - -

As our owner-customer, saving and investing is especially worthwhile thanks to the excellent benefits you receive.

Your benefits when investing in funds or through insurance:

  • Buy and sell almost all OP mutual funds with no fees.*
  • You earn 0.35% OP bonuses from mutual fund and insurance assets.** 
  • Begin saving through insurance free of charge. 
  • Switch between investments, invest additional funds and change your payment and investment plan for OP Unit-linked Insurance and OP Savings Agreement free of charge in our digital services.  

Your benefits in equity and ETF investing:

  • Open an equity savings account or book-entry account free of charge.
  • You get a discount on equity trading and a 1% fee ceiling when trading in Finnish listed companies through a book-entry account The discounts apply in digital services.
  • Get access to free stock picks and analysis.
  • Get a discount on the service packages for savers and investors:
    Equity savings account: 
    Saver: €0/month (normally €2.99/month)
    Investor: €9.99/month (normally €14.99/month)
    Book-entry account: 
    Saver: €0/month (normally €2.99/month)
    Investor: €0/month (normally €5.39/month)

Other benefits:

  • Only owner-customers can invest in Profit Shares.

Remember to make use of all benefits:

*Standard fees are charged for the following special common funds: OP-Public Services Real Estate, OP-Forest Owner, OP-Rental Yield, OP-Alternative Portfolio and OP-Private Equity.

**OP bonuses are automatically used to pay the bank’s service charges and insurance premiums. No OP bonuses are accrued from the R2 Crystal special common fund or institutional classes of funds. The following investment products linked to insurance assets do not accrue OP bonuses: JPM Russia A, JPM Emerging Europe Equity Fund, and BlackRock GF Emerging Europe Fund A. OP bonuses are accrued from unit-linked insurance policies, excluding Individual Unit-linked Insurance and Individual Capital Redemption Contracts.  

This is an advertisement. Remember that investment always involves risks. The value of investments can rise and fall, and an investor can lose part or all of the money they invest. OP funds are managed by OP Fund Management Company Ltd, with OP cooperative bank acting as its agent. Normal transaction costs are charged for the following special common funds: OP-Public Services Real Estate, OP-Forest Owner, OP-Rental Yield, OP-Alternative Portfolio and OP-Private Equity special common funds.