Japan’s mutual fund inflows last year went predominantly into funds investing in US and global equities, the majority of which are managed by foreign asset managers, according to data compiled by a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
Nine out of the ten funds with highest inflows in 2020 invest in US and global stocks, including six that are managed by foreign fund managers, based on figures from Mitsubishi Asset Brains, which provides asset management advisory services.
Combined inflows into the ten funds were 2.71 trillion yen (US$24.94 billion), with 2.51 trillion yen going into the nine funds. The balance went into a global allocation fund which invests in global stocks, bonds and other assets.
In 2019, funds investing in US and global stocks accounted for five of the ten with highest inflows, and only two of them were foreign-owned.
Retail investors are moving money into foreign equity funds in the hopes of getting better long-term returns, according to an investment manager at a Japanese asset management firm.
“Actually, foreign equity funds gathered 3.87 trillion yen last year, which was the second biggest annual inflow in history,” the Tokyo-based manager tells Asia Asset Management, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, figures from Mitsubishi Asset Brains show that five foreign asset managers are among the ten that oversee mutual funds that registered the largest net inflows in Japan last year.
Three US managers – AllianceBernstein, T. Rowe Price and Goldman Sachs Asset Management – are in the top five list, which is headed by Japan’s Asset Management One. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management is in third place.
Switzerland’s Pictet Asset Management and the UK’s HSBC Asset Management are the other two foreign managers among the top ten.
