Investors throng Japan-focused ETFs, pour $2.3 bn in March
Investors throng Japan-focused ETFs, pour $2.3 bn in March
Hong Kong: Japan-focused exchange traded funds (ETFs) attracted a net inflow of $2.3 billion in March, almost entirely from investors in the United States, according to data from global fund tracker Lipper.
The strong flows follow a trend set in mid-March, when Japan-focused ETFs received a record net inflow of $1.2 billion in the week ended 18 March, as investors scrambled to take advantage of a sharp fall in the country’s share market following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
The ETFs took in $700 million on March 16 alone, the biggest one-day inflow and twice the size of the previous record set in 2003, according to data from TrimTabs.
ETFs based in the United States received a net $2.5 billion in March, while those in Japan saw net outflows of $344 million. ETFs based in Luxembourg added $286 million, data from Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, showed.
IShares MSCI Japan Index Fund attracted a net $1.88 billion, surging past Nomura Topix Linked Listed Investment to become the biggest Japan-dedicated ETF managing $7.4 billion at the end of March.
Assets under about 120 ETFs focused on Japan fell by $5.1 billion to $41.8 billion as the funds recorded an average 7.2 percent drop in net assetvalue after the massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a plunge inJapan’s benchmark Nikkei share index.
The month also saw the launch of three new Japan-focused ETFs, with two from Deutsche Bank AG after the March 11 earthquake, offering exposure to the JGB Futures Index.
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