Nikko AM buys stake in US investment adviser
Nikko Asset Management has announced an acquisition of a minority stake in a US-based private investment firm, ARK Investment Management, to enhance its innovation investment solutions.
Under the terms of the deal, Nikko AM would obtain exclusivity to offer ARK products and investment strategies in Japan and the Asia-Pacific while its investment team would work closely with ARK’s analysts.
ARK, which uses an open research ecosystem to develop insights into disruptive innovation spanning different sectors and geographies, derives alpha by investing in leaders and enablers of disruptive technologies, with low overlap to broad-market indices.
The firm also launched five exchange traded funds (ETFs), including four active ETFs, investing in themes such as deep learnings and mobility-as-a-service.
Additionally, the company served as an adviser to Nikko AM’s Global Fintech Equity Fund, which was launched in Japan in 2016.
Nikko AM’s president and chief executive, Takumi Shibata, said: “We are extremely excited to welcome ARK to the Nikko AM family”.
“The established expertise of our in-house investment team combined with ARK’s strategies focused on disruptive technology and innovation enable progressive solutions for our clients.
“Our Global Fintech Fund is an example of the success we have already achieved together, and we are confident of more to come with this deepening of the connection,” he said.
As far as the shareholders’ structure was concerned, ARK’s founder and chief executive, Catherine D. Wood would continue to own a majority stake while the company’s strategic US partner, Resolute Investment Management would remain its minority shareholder.
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
Recommended for you
The “experiment” away from vertical integration has been a mistake, according to Clime’s Michael Baragwanath, and Clime is positioning to benefit via advice and fund manager acquisitions.
JP Morgan Asset Management has identified Australia as an “emerging growth market” as it seeks to double its assets under management in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years.
Australian Ethical funds under management were $14.3 billion at the end of September, with its investment division seeing inflows return after outflows in the previous quarter.
Record flows into iShares ETFs helped BlackRock’s assets under management reach US$13.5 trillion in the third quarter, but it reported outflows from the APAC region.
