Nomura to launch world's 1st fishery investment fund+

TOKYO, Aug. 8 Kyodo -
Nomura Securities Co. will set up Monday what it says is the world's first
investment trust specifically targeting fisheries-related businesses worldwide
amid growing demand for fish in many countries.
The company said it has judged that fishery-related businesses will grow in the
long term. People in the United States and Europe are becoming more
health-conscious while fish demand is also expected to rise in emerging
countries amid economic growth, it said.
''We'd like to attract customers who have not been interested in investment
funds,'' a Nomura official said.
Nomura plans to assemble up to 140 billion yen through the fund during the
period from Monday to Aug. 19, while Amundi Japan Ltd., a Japanese unit of
French asset management company Amundi, will manage the fund, the major
Japanese brokerage house said.
About 30 percent of the collected funds is expected to be invested in
businesses in Japan, while around 40 percent would be invested in U.S. firms,
Nomura officials said.
The company also plans to invest in companies in emerging economies such as
Thailand and Brazil, as well as in Norway where fishing is a main industry.
The fund will be invested in listed companies that engage in fishing or fish
farming, as well as those which make fishery-related goods such as fishing gear
and ship engines, the officials said.
Companies in the food service industry that serve seafood will also be targeted
for investment, they said.
==Kyodo