Japan’s Investment Firm Launches Dollar-Based Hedge Fund
A Japanese investment firm Fivestar Asset Management Co., is launching a dollar-based hedge fund that will invest in Japanese stocks, amid growing interest in the market from foreign investors.
Fivestar
is seeking to raise 10 billion yen ($98 million) within a year for both
the new fund and its existing yen-denominated Shinbi Japan Equity Long
Short Fund, said Masamitsu Ohki, who runs the strategy. The Japanese
currency-based fund started at the end of March with 1 billion yen and
the return was about zero in the first two months, he said.
Interest
in Japanâs stock market by overseas investors has increased since Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to revive the world’s third-largest economy
by pushing measures including a reduction in corporate tax and a review
of the Government Pension Investment Fund’s portfolio, Ohki said. The
benchmark Topix index capped a world-beating rally last year, surging 51
percent, and has since declined more than 5 percent this year.
Source: Businessweek
