Investing
Japan dominates top 10 performing funds list
Japan funds returned the most for UK investors in April, dominating the list of the top 10 performing sectors.
Japan funds also swept the leader board in March.
The rally which started at the end of 2012 received a huge boost in April after Haruhiko Kuroda, the governor of the Bank of Japan, announced a doubling of its quantitative easing to 7 trillion yen or $50bn each month.
The scale of this round of QE is far bigger than any seen from any other country, including the US, and in an economy around one third of its size.
Adrian Lowcock, senior investment manager at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The Japanese stock markets still look good value on many measures.
“The stock market as a whole currently trades close to its ‘book value’ – in theory Japan’s corporate assets could all be sold off for a value near to that the Japanese stock market currently places on the underlying businesses.”
However Lowcock advises that investors hold no more than 5% in Japanese equities and focus on the long term performance of funds.
Top performing funds April 2013
| Name | IMA | Value | Rank |
| Legg Mason Japan Equity A | Japan | 19.53 | 1 |
| Neptune Japan Opportunities A Acc GBP | Japan | 13.47 | 2 |
| Invesco Perpetual Japanese Smaller Companies Acc | Japanese Smaller Companies | 11.46 | 3 |
| JPM Japan A Acc | Japan | 10.80 | 4 |
| CF Ruffer Japanese O Acc | Flexible Investment | 10.73 | 5 |
| Baillie Gifford Japanese A Acc | Japan | 10.61 | 6 |
| AXA Framlington Japan R Inc | Japan | 9.93 | 7 |
| CF Canlife Japanese Growth Acc | Japan | 9.09 | 8 |
| Baillie Gifford Japanese Smaller Companies A Acc | Japanese Smaller Companies | 8.71 | 9 |
| Standard Life Inv Japan Acc | Japan | 8.29 | 10 |
Top performing IMA sectors April 2013
|
Name |
Value | Rank |
| IMA Japanese Smaller Companies | 7.44 | 1 |
| IMA Japan | 6.70 | 2 |
| IMA £ Corporate Bond | 2.43 | 3 |
| IMA £ High Yield | 1.91 | 4 |
| IMA Asia Pacific Including Japan | 1.79 | 5 |
| IMA Property | 1.77 | 6 |
| IMA £ Strategic Bond | 1.59 | 7 |
| IMA UK Index Linked Gilt | 1.37 | 8 |
| IMA Global Equity Income | 1.32 | 9 |
| IMA Europe Excluding UK | 1.27 | 10 |
Source: LIPPER 29th March to 30th April 2013
