Varma invests €300m in low-emission Japanese companies

Written by Adam Cadle

20/04/2022

Varma has invested €300m in low-emission Japanese companies through its ETF.

The low-emission fund, tailor-made for Varma, was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on 8 April 2022 and is the largest-ever responsible investment ETF to be listed in Japan. The funds, managed by Nomura Asset Management, invests in approximately 100 large and mid-sized Japanese companies selected according to strict sustainability criteria, with the liquidity of the shares also taken into account.

Among the investees are the pharmaceutical company Takeda, heat pump manufacturer Daikin Industries, the conglomerate Hitachi, automotive manufacturer Toyota, and the video game company Nintendo.

“We wanted to make an ESG investment that takes sustainability aspects into account also in the Japanese market,” Timo Sallinen, Varma’s head of listed securities, said.

“This is a systematic continuation of our ESG investments tailored to the US, European and emerging markets. The number of exchange-traded ESG funds in Japan is still rather low.”

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