An intriguing play on Japan

A new investment trust launching in London next week could herald a new way of thinking about Japan. David C Stevenson explains.

Dividends matter when it comes to long-term shareholder returns which implies that long-term investors should focus on equities that pay a decent dividend, backed by strong balance sheets and some hope of growth. It's worked in the past and probably will in the future. But dividends matter more in some markets than others.

In Japan, which has been avoided by income-seekers, firms have traditionally clung to a model that emphasises growth at all costs, with excess cash going on capital expenditure. While the economy was racing, that might have made sense but not now. However, a new investment trust launching in London next week could herald a new way of thinking about Japan. The CC Japan Income & Growth Trust will be managed by Richard Austin of Asian equities specialist Coupland Cardiff, which manages around $1.7bn in assets.

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David C. Stevenson
Contributor

David Stevenson has been writing the Financial Times Adventurous Investor column for nearly 15 years and is also a regular columnist for Citywire. He writes his own widely read Adventurous Investor SubStack newsletter at davidstevenson.substack.com

David has also had a successful career as a media entrepreneur setting up the big European fintech news and event outfit www.altfi.com as well as www.etfstream.com in the asset management space. 

Before that, he was a founding partner in the Rocket Science Group, a successful corporate comms business. 

David has also written a number of books on investing, funds, ETFs, and stock picking and is currently a non-executive director on a number of stockmarket-listed funds including Gresham House Energy Storage and the Aurora Investment Trust. 

In what remains of his spare time he is a presiding justice on the Southampton magistrates bench.