Schroders' Rose: Negative rates should boost equities in Japan

How negative rates could boost Japanese equity markets

Schroder Tokyo fund manager Andrew Rose talks to Anna Fedorova about where to find value in the Japanese market, why he has been buying financials on weakness, and why the world's largest pension fund should give equities a leg up.

Investors owning Japanese equities reaped the rewards last year, as yen investors saw the market rise over 50%. However, this year has been far less lucrative: the Nikkei 225 index has been volatile and is down 2.7% year to date. While the Topix is up just 1%, the Schroder Tokyo fund has managed to make a positive return of 2.4% year-to-date, beating many of its peers in the IMA Japan sector. The £1.3bn fund has been managed by Andrew Rose since launch in April 2004, supported by a team of Tokyo-based analysts which now has 13 members. It has been popular with investors over the past ...