Hidehiro Fujiwara

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co., Ltd. (SMDAM) is the majority owned asset management subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (TYO: 8316) in Japan. The firm was founded as Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management (SMAM) in 2002 from a merger of the five corporations: Mitsui Life Global Asset Management, Sakura Investment Management, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Asset Management, Sumisei Global Investment Trust Management, and Sumitomo Life Investment. In 2019, SMAM and Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. merged to begin a new chapter as Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management. Headquartered in Tokyo, SMDAM provides discretionary portfolio management services to institutional clients, that primarily consists of governmental pension funds, private corporate pension funds and related trusts.

Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. is an independent Japanese asset management firm which was founded in 1973 as Daiwa International Capital Management Co., Ltd (DICM). In 1999, DICM, SB Investment Management Co., Ltd. and SBIM Investment Trust Management Co., Ltd. merged to form Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. The firm is headquartered in Tokyo with offices in the UK, the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Daiwa SB Investments provide investment management services to institutional investors, primarily consisting of governmental pension funds, private corporate pension funds and related trusts. They are a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and incorporate ESG issues into their investment analysis and decision-making processes.