Psigma takes profits to dodge Japan sell-off

Psigma has dodged today's Japanese equity sell-off after the firm's CIO Tom Becket told its investment managers to reduce exposure earlier this week amid fears a pullback was imminent.

Despite the fact that fund manager surveys showed optimism towards Japan was higher than anywhere else on the planet prior to yesterday's sharp sell-off, the Japanese equity market has not yet reaped the benefits in fund flows. As a result, at the start of this week Becket released a note saying the firm had advised its team to take profits and close short positions on the yen, amid expectations of a potential dip in prices. Becket said in the note: "Having benefited from an explosive period of performance from the Land of the Rising Market in the last six months, we decided that Japa...