JP Morgan Japan Small Cap Growth and Income underperforms benchmark by 8.5%

Despite 'encouraging' Q3 performance

The JP Morgan Japan Small Cap Growth and Income trust has reported its net asset value dropped 8.7% in the six months to September due to hard hit growth stocks, but a turnaround is underway.

The fall compared to a total return of -0.2% the MSCI Japan Small Cap index, amounting to an underperformance of 8.5%.  In a statement, chair Alexa Henderson said the half year results were an extension of the poor performance which began in early 2022, and are due to the trust investing in growth stocks. She pointed out the trust's performance had improved in the three months since the end of September, delivering a return of 5.4% in NAV terms and outperforming its benchmark by 1.6%. This, she said, is "encouraging and the hope is that investors may be beginning to appreciate that...