US listing could put Japan's Kioxia in global AI spotlight, Voya's Thomas says

TOKYO, Sept 11 : A plan by Kioxia to list shares in the United States could put the Japanese chipmaker back into the global investment spotlight, said the lead manager of a $14 billion AI-focused fund.

Kioxia, whose 456 per cent surge this year leads gains on the benchmark Nikkei 225 index, said in May it was making preparations to list American depositary Shares (ADS) to grow its investor base.

The company is not a part of Voya Investments' Global Artificial Intelligence fund, which includes $5 billion in Japanese money, nor are any of the tech firms that have fuelled the Nikkei's gains. 

The problem is liquidity, said Voya portfolio manager Sebastian Thomas, and being traded in the U.S. market could change that calculus, as it did with South Korea's SK Hynix when it listed on the Nasdaq in July.

"There are a lot of interesting companies in Japan, particularly that are part of the supply chain," Thomas said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. "It's an issue of finding ones that have sufficient liquidity where we can invest."

The fund, which is affiliated with Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management, has given about 600 per cent in cumulative returns since its launch 10 years ago this month, calculated on a pre-tax distribution-reinvested basis.

It invests in AI infrastructure companies like chipmaker Nvidia, the fund's heaviest weighting, but also AI application makers and companies that stand to benefit by embracing the technology, such as drugmaker Eli Lilly .

Voya has invested in Japanese names in the past, and while it doesn't hold Kioxia, it has exposure to other memory makers, including SK Hynix and Micron Technology, Thomas said, adding that U.S. listings make that entry easier.