Japan's Central Bank Owns Huge Slice Of Domestic ETF Market – Data
Japan’s central bank owns almost two-thirds of all the assets invested in exchange traded funds and products in the country, highlighting how Japan’s market for these index-trackers has been heavily influenced by the state.
The Bank of Japan owns 60 per cent of assets in ETFs and ETPs listed in Japan as at the end of November 2021, according to ETFGI, a research and consultancy firm covering trends in the market. ETFs and ETPs listed in Japan sustained net outflows of $3.51 billion during November, bringing year-to-date net inflows to $19.12 billion. Assets invested in the Japanese ETFs/ETPs industry have fallen by 3.7 per cent, from $555 billion at the end of October to $535 billion.
The BoJ started buying ETFs in December 2010 to bolster corporate and household sentiment due to sharp falls in stocks and to support the broader economy. The central bank has remained a big player in the market ever since. Reports have noted how government officials, scholars and market participants have been urging the BoJ to wean itself from the scheme, claiming that it is unsustainable and distorts market pricing. In the US, the Federal Reserve started buying ETFs in the spring of 2020 when markets crashed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It halted such purchases in July. There are some parallels with central bank quantitative easing – purchases of bonds and other assets to inject fresh money into the economy.

NHK - Sep 23
A survey by a private research firm in Japan has found an increasing number of listed companies are severing ties with talent agency Johnny & Associates over reported sex abuse by its late founder.

NHK - Sep 22
Policymakers at the Bank of Japan have decided to leave the central bank's easing program unchanged as they wrapped up their two-day meeting on Friday.

Nikkei - Sep 21
Nippon Television Holdings will acquire Studio Ghibli -- the globally acclaimed anime house known for smash hits like "Spirited Away" and director Hayao Miyazaki -- through subsidiary Nippon TV, the company announced on Thursday.

CNN - Sep 21
Toshiba said on Thursday that a $14 billion tender offer from private equity firm Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) had ended in success — a deal which paves the way for the embattled industrial conglomerate to go private.

News On Japan - Sep 21
Japan McDonald's will reduce the frequency of delivering ingredients and supplies from its logistics warehouses to its stores by 20% starting next month.

The National - Sep 20
Judicial hearings on the $1 billion lawsuit that Carlos Ghosn has filed against Nissan, the auto company he used to head, have begun, with lawyers from both sides meeting the judge charged with overseeing the case in Beirut.

NHK - Sep 20
Average land prices in Japan have risen for a second straight year. Reinvigorated social and economic activity spurred by easing pandemic concern drove the increase.

Kyodo - Sep 20
SoftBank Group Corp said Tuesday that it will receive $5.12 billion in proceeds from the initial public offering of Arm Holdings Plc, a British chip designer under the Japanese conglomerate, by the end of September.

NHK - Sep 19
China's imports of Japanese seafood fell by two-thirds in August from the same month last year, as Beijing halted all such imports following the release of treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Japanalysis - Sep 19
What happens when an egotistical trust fund baby becomes Vice President of his dad's $1B company? Watch and find out. BIG MOTOR!

Bloomberg - Sep 19
Richard Yetsenga, chief economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., discusses policies of central banks including the People's Bank of China and the Bank of Japan.

Bloomberg - Sep 18
The mood in Japan has changed and the deflationary times we’ve experienced for so long that people are more optimistic than before.”

East Asia Forum - Sep 16
Japan's dairy farmers are facing a tough financial situation. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the number of dairy farmers in the country declined by 5.3 per cent - faster than the average rate of 4 per cent - over the past 10 years.

Reuters - Sep 15
Shares in SoftBank's Arm Holdings (ARM.O) soared almost 25% above their offer price in their Nasdaq debut on Thursday, valuing the British chip designer at $65 billion in its return to the public markets after seven years.

NHK - Sep 15
Mazda Motor has started taking orders from its customers in Japan of a plug-in hybrid version of the MX-30, which uses a rotary engine.

News On Japan - Sep 13
Convenience store giant Seven-Eleven has removed toothpicks from its disposable chopstick wrappers.