Polar Capital

We are a specialist, investment-led active fund manager with a clear purpose: to be the specialist active manager of choice for investors seeking expertise, conviction and long-term results. We focus on areas where we have real experience and a proven edge, offering strategies that aim to deliver strong, diversified growth.

Our success comes from the things that define us – deep investment knowledge, enduring client relationships and a culture built on teamwork and integrity. We manage our fund capacity carefully to protect performance and keep our focus where it matters most: delivering for our investors. Since launching in 2001, we have grown steadily and now have 14 independent investment teams managing specialist, active portfolios with combined assets under management of £28.4bn (at 31/12/2025).

Fund: Polar Capital Japan Value Fund

Why is the Fund a Fund to Watch?:

1. Positioned for Japan’s corporate reform acceleration.

The Fund is poised to benefit from Japan’s ongoing corporate reform and the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s focus on capital efficiency. Rising pressure on companies to improve returns on equity, deploy excess cash and address sub-1x book valuations is driving reratings, buybacks and M&A.  

2. High conviction, small-cap value edge.

With a strong bias towards small and mid-cap stocks, the strategy seeks to exploit informational inefficiencies in under-researched parts of the market. The team believes small caps offer the most compelling opportunity set as reform broadens beyond large caps.  

3. M&A and activism as catalysts for returns.

The portfolio has seen increasing takeover activity and activist engagement, with multiple holdings receiving acquisition premiums. The managers actively identify companies where efficient capital use, corporate restructuring or strategic interest could unlock latent value.

Speaker: 

Chris Smith, CFA, Co-Manager of the Japan Value Fund

Chris Smith is co-manager of the Japan Value Fund. He joined Polar Capital in January 2012 as a Japanese equity analyst, prior to which he gained five years’ experience working in accountancy. He holds a BSc (1st Class Hons) in applied accounting and is a chartered accountant and a CFA charter holder.

Presentation Synopsis: 

Japan’s Corporate Reform Unlocking the Small-Cap Opportunity

More than a decade of governance reform in Japan, combined with increasing pressure from the Tokyo Stock Exchange to improve capital efficiency and address low valuations, is reshaping corporate behaviour. With companies being encouraged to focus on returns on equity, balance sheet discipline and shareholder returns, M&A activity and shareholder activism are accelerating, creating multiple investment opportunities.  

Chris Smith, manager of the Polar Capital Japan Value Fund, argues that Japan’s under-researched small and mid-cap universe may offer the most compelling hunting ground for value investors. These companies often trade at a significant discount despite improving fundamentals and growing strategic interest.   Chris will also explain why the combination of structural reform, corporate activity and valuation support makes Japan, particularly its smaller companies, an opportunity that investors should not ignore.

Sales Attendees:

Fred Dalton, Sales Director

Frederick Dalton CAIA is a UK Sales Director at Polar Capital, covering our key wholesale client accounts in London. He joined Polar Capital in May 2021 after the acquisition of Dalton Strategic Partnership (DSP), a European equity specialist where he had worked since 2009. He joined Polar Capital originally as a European Sales Director with a specific focus of looking after existing and prospective client relationships in Italy and the Nordic region, before moving across to focus on the UK client base. Fred has a Masters from The University of Edinburgh in History of Art, a holder of the IMC and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Adrian Cornwall, Sales Director – London

Adrian joined Polar Capital in June 2014 and has over twenty years’ experience in wholesale and institutional distribution. He is responsible for distribution to discretionary investors in London, including wealth managers, fund of funds and family offices. Prior to Polar Capital, Adrian worked at Impax Asset Management and in European Equity Sales at Robert Fleming.