Active ETFs Want to Cash In on Corporate Reform in Japan (1)

Actively managed exchange-trade funds are set to launch in Tokyo next week, with one asset manager focusing its strategy on corporate Japan’s effort to elevate shareholder returns.

Simplex Asset Management Co., which will list three of six active ETFs that debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Sept. 7, has one targeting improvement in price-to-book ratios, another honing in on companies that can lower cross-shareholdings with affiliates and a third that backs firms whose executives have skin in the game with substantial ownership stakes.

The asset manager’s three choices underscore confidence that long-awaited change is underway in corporate Japan, which ...