The US firm is intensifying its focus on the Asian country and building a dedicated team to run a new strategy for Japan.

Neuberger Berman, the US investment house, has assembled its Japan-based equities team. It will be led by Keita Kubota, who joins as a managing director and senior portfolio manager. 

The team will manage a “Japan Equity Engagement Strategy” focusing on Japanese small/mid-cap companies. The strategy will be offered to both institutional and high net worth clients.

Kubota joins from Aberdeen Standard Investments, where he started his career over 13 years ago, most recently serving as deputy head of Japan equities. He was the investment director of Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Japan large cap strategy and small cap strategy, both of which were managed with an engagement strategy and offered to large institutional clients across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Two analysts, one of whom will specialise in ESG investing, will support Kubota. The other, Naoto Saito, joined Neuberger Berman in September as a senior research analyst and has a generalist focus. Saito previously served in research roles and covered a broad range of companies across the Japanese equity market at Balyasny Asset Management, CLSA Securities and T Rowe Price.

Neuberger Berman has been in Japan for 15 years and currently manages over $53 billion of client assets locally, having grown from $13 billion in 2015.