The Japan Small Cap Equity Focus and the Japan All Cap Equity funds will both be managed by the firm's Japan-based equity team, led by Miyuki Kashima.
Both share the objective of pursuing long-term capital growth by investing primarily in shares and similar investments of companies listed or located in Japan, taking advantage of the forecasted recovery after nearly 20 years of stagnation.
The All Cap Equity fund will consist of a minimum of 50 stocks from all sectors of the Topix with an expected annual turnover of around 30-50 per cent. Lead manager Masafumi Oshiden has more than 23 years' industry experience.
Meanwhile, the Small Cap Equity Focus fund will hold 20-30 positions in companies valued at less than 500bn yen. Turnover is expected to be 30-60 per cent.
The team believes Japanese small caps are set to benefit the most from the country's economic turnaround.
"The team takes a longer-term view in Japan small-cap investing than many of their peers, to generate excess returns through stock selection and fundamental research. The team's ability to insightfully interpret information and remain unrattled by short-term noise, together with disciplined risk control, has allowed stock selection to shine."
Kashima, who works with five other investment professionals, will apply investment strategies from the team, including fundamental, bottom-up stock selection spanning all-cap and small-cap strategies, as well as customised strategies for clients.
"The most attractive aspect of the Japanese market is the prospect for a sustained, longer term recovery. Once deflation ends, we believe the investment opportunities for the Japanese market are attractive on an extended time horizon and we believe Prime Minister Abe is on track to accomplish this," she said.
BYN Mellon expects to generate value by consistently selecting the stocks where the team has identified longer-term growth prospects above market expectations.
Both funds may invest in Reits, cash, money market funds and equity index futures for cash management purposes. Base currency is the yen, but the fund is also available in sterling, euro, US dollar and Swiss Franc denominations.
