While UK private investors continue their love affair with the US – the latest numbers from the Investment Association (IA) show the sector topped the net retail sales charts for the second month in a row – a more intriguing name has edged up the rankings.
Having begun 2023 with negative fund flows, the IA Japan sector attracted £106m in net retail sales during February – its highest inflows since January 2022.
That said, when looking at the sales stats for Japan, the one thing that stands out as consistent is the inconsistency.
In the 12 months to February 2023, there have been outflows of £890m from Japanese funds – albeit a large chunk of this came in May when investors pulled £584m.
So how much should be read into this latest surge in interest and should investors be paying more attention to what is going in Japan?
In this month’s head to head, John-Paul Temperley, portfolio manager on the Japanese equity team for Axa IM Framlington Equities, discusses why Japan could once again become an attractive destination for equity investors, while Premier Miton investment trust specialist Nick Greenwood, manager of the Migo Opportunities Trust, suggests there are reasons to believe maybe – this time – it could be different.
Read the full article in Portfolio Adviser’s May 2023 magazine.
