Robeco announces its growth strategy for Japan

Since opening its first Asian office in Tokyo in 2005, Robeco has acted as an investment advisor and agent providing asset management strategies for Japanese institutional investors. Building on this experience, Robeco is now targeting new business opportunities and further expansion of its client servicing activities in Japan. After Robeco received its asset manager license, it established Robeco Japan and launched a discretionary investment management service. Robeco Japan aims to have over EUR 5 billion assets under management in the next five years.

Robeco Japan has embarked on new business development to expand its asset management service in Japan by targeting the following three customer segments:

• Corporate and public pension funds
• Financial institutions such as life insurance firms
• Asset managers, brokers, banks, and other institutions that manage and distribute investment trust funds.

Robeco Japan is planning to present an extensive range of active investment strategies to fulfil client needs. These include equity and bond strategies based on quantitative research, emerging market equities and emerging debt in addition to aggregate fixed income and high yield strategies.

The funds that Robeco Japan will offer integrate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into their equity and bond analyses. Robeco believes this approach leads to better-informed investment decisions, mitigates risk and provides long-term investment opportunities.

Roderick Munsters, CEO Robeco: “Robeco’s strategy 2014-2018 focusses on accelerating growth and Japan is an important element in this. We are confident that this new strategy and the support of our majority shareholder ORIX will enable us to realize substantial growth in Japan in the coming years. We are looking forward to offering Japanese clients our state-of-the-art investment capabilities and services.”

Kikuo Kuroiwa, President Robeco Japan: “Robeco already provides asset management solutions for various institutional investors, including pension funds, around the world. I’m pleased that Robeco Japan, as its subsidiary, will now also be able to offer Robeco’s prominent investment strategies to Japanese investors. In addition, we will promote the concept of ESG integration in investments here in Japan, based on Robeco’s expertise in the field of sustainability investing”