Ruffer duo: The 'magical combination' that will boost Japan

Hopeful of a rate rise

Japanese banks are shedding their "sackcloth and ashes", making them an attractive proposition, said managers of the Ruffer investment trust Steve Russell and Hamish Baillie.

In an investor update, the managers Russell (pictured) and Baillie commented on why Japan was a favoured area of investment despite it being a position they have held for a while: "Rising global bond yields, increased growth expectations and a falling yen have historically been a magical combination for Japanese equities.  "While the last 18 months has prompted much soul-searching by us on the subject of Japan, we consider a substantial exposure to Japanese equities entirely appropriate in the context of our present relatively low equity allocation and that of equity valuations more gene...