Little reward for those who invest in the Japan market

The Japanese government bond market remains a no go area for Western investors The market's characteristics include low yields and an extremely high rate of issuance ­ neither of these are particular favourites of fixed interest fund managers The 10 year bond is now yielding 1.55% compared with as much as 5.95% for the equivalent US Treasury and 5.16% for euro-denominated government bonds. At the same time the high issuance looks more likely to speed up than slow down as the government plans a fiscal boost to the economy to nurture a recovery in Japan. This should entail more borrowing an...