Management team
Erik Becker, CFASenior Portfolio Manager
Nomura VIP Core Equity Series applies a growth mindset to the core investment universe, seeking to create a focused portfolio of quality businesses with underappreciated growth drivers at reasonable valuations.
Core focus
Focused portfolio that invests primarily in US companies across the valuation and large- to mid-cap spectrum
Disciplined discovery
Stock selection results from uncovering underappreciated earnings catalysts in companies with competitive advantages
High conviction
Seeks to deliver alpha by investing in the team’s strongest investment convictions in select, quality businesses
Strategic emphasis on idiosyncratic and thematic/macro drivers, rather than targeting efficiently valued large-cap companies, has the potential to offer significant opportunity for alpha generation.
A focused portfolio of 40–50 holdings allows the team to avoid companies undergoing competitive disruption while owning businesses with improving fundamentals.
The strategy seeks companies exhibiting key characteristics: fundamental catalysts driving earnings, competitive moats for potential downside protection, and reasonable valuations.
Universe and idea generation begins with the 1,500 largest US companies before an analyst screening process generates a focused universe of around 250 names.
Selection criteria apply due diligence to identify companies with 2-3 year forecastable change, quality characteristics, and earnings or valuation upside.
Portfolio construction maintains 40–50 stocks across stable growth (45–55%), cyclical growth (10–25%), and rapid growth (25–30%), with comprehensive risk management across multiple levels.
S&P 500® Index
The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted.
Total returns may reflect waivers and/or expense reimbursements by the manager and/or distributor (as applicable) for some or all of the periods shown. Performance would have been lower without such waivers and reimbursements.
Returns for less than one year are not annualized.
The performance and expense ratio information shown represent the performance and fees as they relate to actual shares of the Series. These examples do not include any fees or sales charges imposed by the variable insurance contract for which the Series is an investment option. If they were included, your costs would be higher and performance would be lower. Investors should consult the contract prospectus or disclosure documents for more information.
Index performance returns do not reflect any management fees, transaction costs, or expenses. Indices are unmanaged and one cannot invest directly in an index.
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Risk Disclosures
Carefully consider the Series' investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and other information can be found in the Series' prospectus and its summary prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting nomuraassetmanagement.com/vip-literature or calling 800 523-1918. Investors should read the prospectus and the summary prospectus carefully before investing.
Employees of the Manager's affiliates outside the US participate in the management of certain Series as “associated persons” of DMC under DMC's oversight, in accordance with SEC guidance as to “participating affiliate” arrangements. These associated persons may, on behalf of DMC, provide discretionary investment management services, trading, research and related services directly or indirectly to the Series.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
A fund or strategy that holds a limited number of securities may be more sensitive to the price fluctuations of a single security in its portfolio and may be more volatile than a fund or strategy that holds a greater number of securities.
Nomura VIP funds are not available for direct investment except for issuers of variable insurance product contracts. They are available only through the purchase of certain variable insurance products.
Not FDIC Insured • No Bank Guarantee • May Lose Value
Nothing presented should be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell any security or follow any investment technique or strategy.
All third-party marks cited are the property of their respective owners.
© 2026 Nomura Asset Management International Inc.
Nomura VIP funds are not available for direct investment except for issuers of variable insurance product contracts. They are available only through the purchase of certain variable insurance products.
Nomura Asset Management is part of the Investment Management Division of the Nomura Group, providing integrated public and private market asset management services across equities, fixed income, private credit and multi-asset solutions to intermediary, institutional clients, and retail. Nomura Asset Management primarily operates through several distinct investment managers, which include Nomura Capital Management LLC, Nomura Corporate Research and Asset Management Inc., Nomura Investment Management Business Trust (NIMBT) (consisting of the Nomura Alternative Strategies, Nomura Investment Management Advisers, Nomura Investments Fund Advisers, Delaware Capital Management (DCM), and Delaware Management Company series), Nomura Investment Management Europe S.A., and Nomura Investment Management Austria Kapitalanlage AG. Nomura Asset Management includes investment products and advisory services distributed and offered by and referred through affiliates, which include Delaware Distributors, L.P., a registered broker/dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and NIMBT, a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered investment advisor. Investment advisory services are provided by the DCM series of NIMBT.
Investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. The investment capabilities described in this website involve risks due, among other things, to the nature of the underlying investments. All examples herein are for illustrative purposes only and there can be no assurance that any particular investment objective will be realized or any investment strategy seeking to achieve such objective will be successful. Past performance is not a reliable indication of future performance.
Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of it having regard to your particular objectives, financial situation and needs and seek advice.
This information is a general description of Nomura Asset Management only. The views expressed on this website represent those of the relevant investment team and are subject to change. No information set out above constitutes advice, an advertisement, an invitation, a confirmation, an offer or a solicitation, to buy or sell any security or other financial product or to engage in any investment activity, or an offer of any banking or financial service. Some products and/or services mentioned on this website may not be suitable for you and may not be available in all jurisdictions.