Poor results for Japanese portfolios

Japanese smaller companies funds have all posted negative returns over the year to the end of May following a two-year period of remarkable growth on the back of the technology bubble. The Gartmore PSF Japanese Smaller Companies fund is one of the best performing portfolios in the sector and has returned 204.2% over the three years to the end of May 2001, compared to a sector average of 119.17% over the same period. The fund strongly outperformed during the height of the technology boom, returning 85.96% between June 1998 and May 1999, versus a sector average of 56.7%, and 95.8% betwe...