Governance Standards and Board Diversity

Nippon Active Value Fund PLC

09 May 2023

 

9 May 2023

LEI: 213800JOFEGZJYS21P75

Nippon Active Value Fund plc ("NAVF")

Governance standards and board diversity 

Nippon Active Value Fund endorses call for greater board independence and diversity across corporate Japan's boardrooms 

London / Tokyo, 9th May 2023: Nippon Active Value Fund plc (NAVF) is pleased to endorse a call from financial market participants representing over 110 institutional investors with more than JPY120tr in assets under management* who have written to jointly engage the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Financial Services Agency (FSA), and the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) to accelerate Japan's transition towards corporate governance standards that are widely accepted as best practices in developed economies. 

While many positive changes have been made to corporate governance through a series of landmark regulatory changes that followed the election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government in 2012, NAVF shares the belief that regulators in Japan need to be more ambitious to accelerate the reform agenda. In particular, NAVF shares the belief that regulators should:

•           Set a minimum requirement for publicly listed Japanese companies of at least 50% of directors being independent by 2030.

•           Actively encourage the promotion of more diverse boards and provide a legislative framework for companies to address gender imbalances in the boardroom.

NAVF Chairman Rosemary Morgan commented: "The reforms over the past decade have been advantageous to market participants in Japan. Nevertheless, there remain areas where corporate Japan materially lags its global peers, most notably in the composition of the boardroom." 

Please see the full text of the letter.

* AUM December 31, 2022

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About NAVF

Nippon Active Value Fund ("NAVF") is an Investment Trust listed on the Specialist Fund Segment of the London Stock Exchange. The investment advisor of the Fund is Rising Sun Management Limited. NAVF is targeting attractive levels of capital growth for shareholders from the active management of a focused portfolio of quoted small cap Japanese equity investments. The investment advisor, Rising Sun Management Limited, targets companies which are attractive, undervalued and have a substantial proportion of their market capitalisation held in cash and/or listed securities and/or realisable assets.

Paul ffolkes Davis, Chairman of Rising Sun Management, the investment advisor to NAVF, commented: "Companies in Japan and worldwide should embrace the goal of having a majority of independent directors while also seeking a diverse board that includes women. We believe that board diversity and independence are essential to managing today's listed companies in the best interests of investors."

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