New York-based investment manager Neuberger Berman has launched a Japananese equity fund, a Ucits vehicle (a regulatory framework that allows for the sale of mutual funds across the borders of EU member states) managed by its Japanese equity team. Led by Keita Kubota, senior portfolio manager and head of Japanese equities, the Tokyo-based team has run the underlying strategy since January 2021. The fund gives international investors access to a research-driven, bottom-up approach targeting a concentrated portfolio of typically 35 to 65 high quality Japanese companies across market caps. The investment universe covers Japanese-listed companies with the portfolio constructed from a watchlist of 80 to 120 names reviewed quarterly. Kubota said: “Japan’s equity market has delivered a strong 18 months, and global investors are seeing the region approach the end of the so-called “lost decades” of deflation.