First Read: Japan Machinery Sector "European investor visit feedback" Sasaki

Research evidence excerpt

First Read: Japan Machinery Sector "European investor visit feedback" Sasaki

Global Research

29 June 2026ab

First Read

EquitiesJapan Machinery Sector

European investor visit feedback Japan

Factory Equipment

Tsubasa Sasaki

We visited about 30 institutional investors, mainly large long-only funds Analyst

In the fourth week of June, we visited Paris, Switzerland, and London, holding meetings tsubasa.sasaki@ubs.com

with about 30 major European institutional investors. Most were large long-only funds +813-5208 6207

with a medium- to long-term investment focus, and overall they showed keen interest in

Japan’s machinery sector. We noted some global funds are moving to lift their

allocations to Japanese equities.

Interest in the FA sector was high

At the subsector level, questions were predominantly focused on factory automation

(FA). Institutional investors expressed strong interest in high-quality names with

exposure to key investment themes such as AI, semiconductors, and automation. In

contrast, interest in construction machinery and heavy industrials was relatively limited,

except among Japan-focused funds. One factor may be that global funds can invest in

leading European and US peers in these areas. Indeed, discussions often focused on

comparisons of Komatsu with Caterpillar, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with GE

Vernova and Siemens Energy.

Among individual names, the spotlight fell on Keyence, Daifuku, Fanuc, and

Ebara

The investor response to efforts by Keyence to enhance shareholder returns and improve

disclosure was surprisingly positive. Daifuku and Ebara found favour for their

semiconductor exposure and strong competitive positioning, as well as for an absence

of any overheating in their valuations. Fanuc attracted significant attention for its