Asset Management One Co., Ltd

Engagement

  1. Asset Management One Co., Ltd.
  2. Sustainability & Stewardship
  3. Engagement

Asset Management One’s Engagement Activities

Based on our proprietary selection criteria, we identify focus companies* and determine material issues for each investee company in advance before conducting engagement activities. Guided by the annual engagement plan prepared at the beginning of each fiscal year, we steadily implement the PDCA cycle outlined below to enhance the effectiveness of our engagement activities and to link improvements in the corporate value of investee companies to better investment performance, including raising the overall level of the market and generating excess returns.

* Companies subject to milestone management

Engagement in Japanese Equities

The Engagement PDCA Cycle

We operate a systematic PDCA（Plan, Do, Check, Act）cycle to integrate the planning, execution, evaluation, and refinement of our engagement activities, continuously driving their effectiveness.

Visualising Engagement Activities

Engagement activities begin by presenting and sharing the material engagement issues identified for each investee company. Following each engagement, we record all dialogue, and for focus companies we manage progress using a detailed eight-step milestone framework. This helps to build shared understanding of the issues concerned and supports the further enhancement of our engagement approach.

We conduct engagements with our investee companies across a broad spectrum of 21 financial and non-financial themes. These encompass Corporate Strategy, Capital Efficiency, Environmental, Social, and Governance（ESG）factors, as well as Japan-specific issues.

Following our engagements, we meticulously track and visualize the progress of investee companies on their material issues through a granular 8-step milestone framework.

We conduct engagement through collaboration among ESG analysts, sector analysts, proxy voting specialists and fund managers. By preparing proprietary materials for each investee company and raising issues that contribute to the enhancement of corporate value, we seek to build relationships of trust with companies and improve the effectiveness of our dialogue. Through the enhancement of the corporate value of investee companies, we aim to achieve both improved investment performance and the resolution of social issues.

Strengths of Our Engagement Approach（Enhancing Effectiveness）

Engagement in Active Japanese Fixed Income

In our active fixed-income strategies, we conduct engagements based on insights derived from our proprietary ESG credit scoring methodology. Our dialogues focus on corporate initiatives to address ESG issues that could materialize as future risks, as well as on financial strategies, issuance policies, and downside risk mitigation from a uniquely fixed-income perspective.

Unlike equities, bonds do not carry direct voting rights. However, the recent expansion of new markets, such as ESG bonds and hybrid bonds, has significantly increased our opportunities for dialogue with issuers. Leveraging our presence as one of Japan's leading active credit investors, we are committed to effectively conveying the voice of investors directly to corporate management.

Engagement with Overseas Companies

Investment professionals based at Asset Management One International in London collaborate with colleagues globally, with the goal of deepening our ESG integration into equity portfolios managed for the global client base and researching broader global ESG trends. By placing experienced specialists in Europe—a region at the forefront of stewardship activities and ESG investing—and collaborating closely with ESG analysts in Tokyo as well as fund managers and analysts in New York, we strive to resolve social issues and enhance corporate value from a truly global perspective.

Furthermore, our engagements with overseas companies are conducted in partnership with EOS at Federated Hermes, a leading stewardship service provider. While entrusting certain engagement activities to them, we maintain active involvement in the engagement process and its progress. We achieve this by participating in the engagement meetings they hold with our investee companies and by providing feedback on their annual engagement plans and priority topics.

Contact Us

Head Office

Tekko Building, 1-8-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan

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Asset Management One Co., Ltd

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