By Chikafumi Hodo and Michiko Iwasaki
TOKYO, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Times are tough but Japan's newest asset management firm, which takes a extremely long view when it invests, also plans to be patient with the development of its flagship fund.
The Commons 30 Fund will decide its investments, looking 30 years ahead and 30 years back, Tetsuro Ii, chief executive of Commons Asset Management, told Reuters in an interview.
"What's unique about our fund is that we'll be looking at a company from the standpoint of where it will be in 30 years. It will be a new approach based on dialogue with the companies," he said.
The fund will not only look at long-term strategies but also review a firm's accounts and share price development over the past 30 years, as well as talk to other people and firms about their views of the company in question.
The Commons 30 Fund, an equities investment trust fund, which is set to be launched on Jan. 19, aims to have an asset value of around 50 billion yen ($550 million) in three years. The break-even level of the fund is set at 30 billion yen.
Ii, who was worked in marketing at Yamaichi Securities and in wealth management for Merrill Lynch and Mitsubishi UFJ Merrill Lynch PB Securities, said the current market environment was not necessarily bad for his fund.
"I'm not worried about the timing of the launch of the fund. It is better timing than six months or a year ago," Ii said.
The prices of many new publicly placed investment trust funds have roughly halved over the past six months, but such sharp declines are unlikely to be repeated, he said.
The asset value of Japanese investment trust funds fell to a three-year low in November as share prices continued to slump, data from Japan's Investment Trusts Association showed.
Commons has already visited more than 100 firms and is planning to visit 100 more, Ii said.
More and more retail investors should be drawn to the fund as they learn about its concept, he said.
"We are not launching a large fund, so we'll take a modest approach."
He also pointed to encouraging signs that domestic investors were opening up fresh brokerage or online accounts.
The number of new accounts opened at top brokerage Nomura Holdings in October, including accounts for stocks, bonds and mutual funds, was 49,000, a four-year high.
Many of Japan's retail investors were spurred to invest after the Nikkei average lost 24 percent in October, logging its worst monthly performance in its 58-year history. Japanese individuals collectively hold some $16 trillion in personal savings, largely in bank deposits. ($1=90.86 Yen) (Editing by Edwina Gibbs)