Chatfeild-Roberts added to Japan ahead of quake

Jupiter's John Chatfeild-Roberts upped exposure to Japan in his £6bn Merlin multi-manager range in February with the addition of the GLG Japan CoreAlpha fund.

The head of the Merlin team added the position into his £1.42bn Growth fund, £1.1bn Balanced fund, and the £714m Worldwide portfolio.

With the purchase of Stephen Harker's £1.1bn GLG Japan CoreAlpha, exposure to Japan moved from 5.9% to 7.9% in the Growth fund, and from 8.7% to 14.6% in the Worldwide portfolio.

He also took exposure to Japan in the Balanced fund from 4.6% to 6.5%, topping up an existing position in the Jupiter Japan Income fund.

The move was made just weeks before the region was hit by the devastating earthquake and tsunami which have sent share prices in the country tumbling. However, the manager had been gradually increasing exposure to Japan over the last four months.

Chatfeild-Roberts says the impact of the natural disasters on his portfolios has been countered by a number of defensive holdings.

"The negative impact on the portfolios has been limited by our more defensive holdings." These include positions in gold, as well as cash which has been increased across all three funds in the last month.

Chatfeild-Roberts says he will be monitoring the situation carefully.

"As long-term experienced investors we will monitor the situation carefully as it is going to take some days to work out the impact of these terrible events. Our holdings focus on investing in companies displaying fundamental value rather than growth and we have confidence in the fund managers we have chosen.

"We have also hedged the yen within the portfolios which should provide some protection against the currency falling, particularly in the event the nuclear situation deteriorates."