Useful table, this.
It’s from Citigroup and shows the size of foreign investments by Japanese investment trusts — i.e. retail investors. And it’s a bit more detailed than the one we had on Friday:
So, that’s $342bn of overseas assets, with the USA ($120bn), Australia ($61bn), the eurozone ($41bn) and Brazil ($35bn) representing the top four holdings.
The highlighted figures are the countries (in Citi’s humble opinion) where Japan’s investments really matter. In other words, they account for a large percentage of the market.
In New Zealand, for example, Japanese retail investors own just over a 10th of the bond market! While in Vietnam, they own 7 per cent of the equity market.
Of course, we don’t know the degree to which Japanese retail investors need or will be able to repatriate funds. And retail punters might want to reduce holdings in the US and the eurozone where yields are lower than in other markets, Citi notes.
Nonetheless, the above table is still a handy guide to potential pressure points.
Related links:
Who’s been selling Japanese stocks? – FT Alphaville
Jefferies: limited risk of TSY sell-off by insurance companies – FT Alphaville
Earthquake – from Japan to the States, and back again - FT Alphaville