James Carthew: new faces and a brighter future for Japan
Shinzo Abe, who has just become an internet meme by doing a backward roll into a golf bunker, while hanging out with Donald Trump, has pulled off what Theresa May couldn’t, calling a snap election and securing an increased majority.
Japan’s prime minister first secured the position in 2006 but it was his re-election on 16 December 2012 that ushered in the period of ‘Abenomics’ (a series of economic policies designed to revive Japan’s fortunes) and triggered the renaissance of Japan’s stock market.
A 118% return from the Topix index since then to the end of October has helped dim memories of Japan’s lost decades when the country became a byword for deflation and weak stock market performance with the Topix returning just 15% from 1 November 1997 to 16 December 2012.
The fund managers who navigated their way through the wilderness years in Japan deserve credit… read more here