American Century Investments and Nomura Asset Management's American Century US Focused Innovation Equity UCITS, initially launched on 30 June, is now available to investors in Europe.
The product, a sub-fund of Nomura Funds Ireland, is centered on identifying innovative companies in their early and rapid growth phases that are positioned to sustain above average growth. The fund will be benchmarked against the MSCI USA Growth Index.
The strategy will be managed American Century Investments senior portfolio managers Keith Lee and Michael Li as well as portfolio managers Prabha Ram (pictured) and Henry He. Investments will comprise of between 30-45 companies and an additional focus has been paid to ESG risks and opportunities for management to reinvest capital.
This latest launch is the fourth UCITS created by American Century in collaboration with Nomura Asset Management. In 2016, Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings acquired a non-controlling interest in American Century.
Nomura Asset Management UK CEO Go Hiramatsu said that the latest collaboration is rooted in the desire to find innovative products for clients and provide a broader range of solutions to serve their strategic interests.
"Given high valuations, investing into US growth companies needs a rigorous selection process based on longstanding experience," he said.
Ram, vice president and portfolio manager for American Century, added: "Our investment approach looks beyond short-term market fluctuations and focuses instead on businesses with enduring franchises and strong balance sheets, that we think will be able to generate attractive cash flow growth over a long time horizon.
"Our positioning is ultimately determined by an assessment of a company's long-term business conditions and management's abilities to execute on those opportunities," he added.
Details of charges have not yet been disclosed.
First published by our sister title Investment Week
