Trustnet Magazine Issue 13 December 2015 | Page 19

INVESTMENT STRATEGY

inflationary environment from
the current deflationary one,
valuations look very attractive and
we are seeing earnings upgrades.”
Calder uses JO Hambro
Japanese Dividend as part of his
theme of taking yield wherever
he can find it, while he also holds
Chris Taylor’s Neptune Japan
Opportunities fund.
“The Neptune fund has had a
tough 12 months but it is still
one of the best performers in the
sector over the past 10 years,” he
said. “In an area that polarises a
lot of people, Taylor has strong
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“IT IS ALL ABOUT THE
PERFORMANCE OF THE
STOCK MARKET AND IN
THE MEDIUM-TERM IT
LOOKS AN ATTRACTIVE
PLACE TO INVEST”
views on Japan and is the only
manager we know who takes
currency views at the fund level,
either through hedging or not
hedging the yen.”

JAPAN

“We did a recent review of Japan
in which most of the managers
we spoke to have more than 30
years’ experience of investing in
the region, and pretty much to a
man and woman they all told us
they have never seen the market
this positive at any point in their
career going back to the 1980s.”
“Whether or not we think Japan
as an economy is a fantastic place
to invest from a fundamental
perspective is neither here
nor there, it is all about the
performance of the stock market
and in the medium-term it looks
an attractive place to invest.”
Jason Broomer, head of
investment at Square Mile, quotes
Simon Kuznets, a Noble laureate
from the 1970s, who once
claimed there are four types of
economy: developed, developing,
Argentina and Japan.
Broomer says: “Even today
there are elements of truth in
this statement and it provides a
useful quartet of sub-asset classes
for investors seeking to build a
diversified portfolio. Developed
and developing nations are
pretty self-evident classifications.
Argentina remains more or
less uninvestable and Japan,
despite its well documented
macroeconomic problems,
continues to march to the beat of
its own drum.”
“However, changes are afoot
in Japan. Its tourism industry is
taking off, the labour markets
have tightened and governance is
improving. Accounting scandals
such as those at Toshiba and
Olympus are now coming to the
fore as opposed to being brushed
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