Fidelity Japan trust sees 24.3% NAV drop as growth sell-off bites

Reference index down 4.1%

The Fidelity Japan trust saw a steep decline of its net asset value in 2022 as the rotation from growth to value hit its portfolio companies during what the company described as “one of the most challenging years for financial markets in a long time”.

According to its annual results for the year to December 2022, the £309m trust's NAV per share declined by 24.3% in sterling terms and the share price fell by 28.1% as the discount widened to 9.6% from 4.9% from a year ago. The trust's discount has since grown further to 10.7% today (29 March), according to data from the Association of Investment Companies. In comparison, the TOPIX Total Return index decreased by 4.1%. The company also underperformed the weighted average return of the AIC Japan peer group over the year, but was largely in line with other mid/small-cap growth competitors....