The study, which is compiled monthly, using data gathered by Skandia from more than 20 European fund managers, showed a reading of 53 for Japanese equities in February (see chart below). This indicates that a strong majority of professional investors expected to see gains of more than 5% in the FTSE All World Japan index during the following 12 months, and is the highest such reading since June 2006.true
This bullishness tallies with the February Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Fund Manager Survey, which found that sentiment towards Japanese equities is “normalising”. According to the study, which was based on responses from almost 200 managers running more than $550bn (€420bn), a net 7% of asset allocators were overweight Japanese equities – compared with 20% underweight in December.
Indeed, the BofA Merrill Lynch survey shows that fund managers are more upbeat on the outlook for corporate profits in Japan than anywhere else. As a result, about 10% of respondents said Japan is “the region they would most like to overweight”.
Platinum members can view full results from the latest Expert Investor Europe Manager Sentiment Survey here.
