The Japan Equity Fund, Inc. is a diversified closed-end management investment company, whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:JEQ). The Fund invests substantially all of its assets in equity securities of Japanese companies whose securities are traded on the First or Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange or listed on the over-the-counter market in Japan or listed on other stock exchanges in Japan.
Address:
The principal office of The Japan Equity Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") is:
The Japan Equity Fund, Inc.
c/o Aberdeen Asset Management Inc.
1735 Market Street, 32nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103 U.S.A.
Telephone: 1-866-839-5205
Email: investorrelations@aberdeen-asset.com
The Fund :
The Fund is a diversified, closed-end management investment company, incorporated under the laws of the State of Maryland on July 12, 1990, and invests in certain types of Japanese equity securities in accordance with its investment objective.
Initial Public Offering :
6,000,000 shares of common stock, at an offering price of U.S. $10 per share.
The Fund commenced investment operations on July 17, 1992, with net proceeds from the sale of shares of approximately U.S. $55,375,000.
The Fund has been listed in the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "JEQ" since August 14, 1992. You may purchase shares by contacting your broker. You may not purchase shares directly from the Fund.
The Fund's net asset value ("NAV") is calculated daily.
Capital Structure :
Common stock: 30,000,000 shares authorized, with 14,481,811 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2011.
The Fund's common stock CUSIP number is:
471057 10 9.
Investment Manager:
The Fund's investment manager, Daiwa SB Investments (USA) Ltd. ("DSBI USA") was formerly known as Daiwa International Capital Management Co. ("DICAM"), located at 32 Old Slip, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10005, is a direct subsidiary of Daiwa SB Investments Ltd., a Japanese investment advisory organization with approximately U.S. $60.4 billion under management worldwide as of March 31, 2012.
DSBI is an investment advisory firm registered under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.
Investment Objective :
Effectively April 28, 2000, the investment objective of the Fund is to outperform over the long term, on a total return basis (including appreciation and dividends), the sectors of the Tokyo Stock Price Index ("TOPIX"), a composite market-capitalization weighted index of all common stocks listed on the First or Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ("TSE") or listed on the over-the-counter market in Japan or listed on other stock exchanges in Japan.
It is not an objective of the Fund to predict changes in its benchmark index, the overall Japanese stock market or economy, or the U.S. Dollar/Japanese Yen exchange rate. The Fund's goal is to outperform its benchmark, while attempting to remain fully invested.
The Fund does not engage in hedging strategies.
Investment Approach :
Upon DSBI's becoming the Investment Adviser to the Fund, the Fund will follow an "active" investment policy. After January 1, 2000, DSBI is no longer utilizing the DPOS system to select investments for the Fund's portfolio. Instead, it will select investments for the Fund through a more traditional "active" analysis of various factors that may affect the value of securities. DSBI intends to adopt an approach that involves quantitative valuation of securities to identify an appropriate universe of securities from which to select investments, with judgmental analysis then applied to this universe to determine the actual investments to be made by the Fund.
Rights Offerings :
The Fund has had three transferable rights offerings, which were fully subscribed. The first offering expired on May 13, 1994. The Fund issued an additional 2,020,000 shares of common stock. The proceeds, net of fees and expenses, were approximately U.S. $26.6 million. The second offering expired on November 17, 1995. The Fund issued an additional 2,702,000 shares of common stock. The proceeds, net of fees and expenses, were approximately U.S. $26.5 million. The third offering expired on December 24, 2003. The Fund issued an additional 3,605,229 shares of common stock. The proceeds, net of fees and expences, were approximately U.S. $19.4 million.
Fund's Ability to Repurchase Shares :
From time to time, the Fund may purchase shares of its common stock in the open market, at prevailing market prices and in such amounts as the Board of Directors may deem advisable.
Dividends :
The Fund intends to distribute, at least annually, substantially all of its investment company taxable income and net realized long-term capital gains, if any, in excess of net realized short-term capital losses. The Fund generally declares any dividends to be paid at the regular December quarterly meeting of its Board of Directors.
The Fund has a Dividend Reinvestment and Cash Purchase Plan (the "Plan") available to shareholders, which offers automatic reinvestment of dividends and capital gain distributions in additional shares. The Plan also offers the opportunity for a semi-annual cash investment in February and August of each year to registered shareholders participating in the Plan. This feature allows the participants to purchase additional shares in the open market through the Plan Agent. Information about this Plan can be obtained by contacting American Stock Transfer & Trust Company at (866) 669-9904 or (718) 921-8124.
Other Significant Information :
The Fund publishes reports to its stockholders semi-annually and generally distributes earnings press releases on a quarterly basis. The Fund does not publish an annual prospectus.
The Fund's Articles of Incorporation contain various anti-takeover provisions, which includes a staggered election of its Board of Directors, encompassing three classes of Directors. Each class stands for re-election every third year.
A complete list of the Fund's Directors and Officers can be found in the Fund's latest annual or semi-annual report to its stockholders.
Dividend and interest income on Japanese portfolio holdings is subject to withholding taxes at the source.
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