Can corporate reforms help push Japanese equities higher?

With Japan's corporate governance improvements now underway, Nicholas Weindling, portfolio manager of the JPMorgan Japanese investment trust, looks at how the region can finally begin to close the gap with Europe and the US and improve its tourism industries

Japanese equities have carved out a significant winning streak so far this year, both in yen terms but notably also in all other major global currency terms. The outlook for further gains from these levels is strong and there are several pillars holding up this view: monetary policy is supportive and market-friendly, parts of the economy are improving, Japanese companies are, and likely will continue, achieving record profits, market valuations are not expensive, and corporate governance is improving significantly.  The Bank of Japan (BOJ) also remains committed to generating inflatio...