Japanese investors wake up to dividends
FREE email from MoneyWeek
Discover the latest profit opportunities and understand what’s really going on in the investment world with our punchy daily email. CLICK HERE
This genius investor does dizzying levels of research to uncover...Half Price Shares!
Good news for Japan bulls, says Christopher Wood on Breakingviews.com: local investors are discovering dividends. For instance, Nomura’s Japan High Yield Equity Fund, was launched in mid-April with assets of Y49bn; this figure has since risen to Y119bn. Net assets of investment trusts specialising in dividend plays have jumped by 190% to Y410bn since the start of the year. It’s a sign of “thawing risk aversion” that the Japanese are willing to buy dividend plays at all; the hottest selling local product has hitherto been global bond funds. And the rising demand should put pressure on Japanese companies to increase dividends and thus bolster the appeal of the market. There’s plenty of scope for dividend hikes to help boost yields beyond the current lowly average of around 1.2%, says Miki Tanikawa in the International Herald Tribune. Japan Inc, having restructured and paid down debt accumulated during the bubble years, has an estimated Y82 trillion (£412bn) in surplus cash.
FREE! For all our latest advice on making profitable investments, claim your 3-week FREE trial of the MoneyWeek website and magazine now.
Money Morning is the FREE daily email from MoneyWeek
– a punchy round-up of the latest investment news and profit opportunities.
DON’T MISS IT!
