fund manager comment: Crédit Agricole

Performance of Japanese equities has been disappointing of late. For example, Topix finished down 0.9% in November vs some 7% gain in MSCI AC World Free index expressed in yen. Unfortunately, Japan remained an unattractive market for foreign investors, leaving it at the mercy of domestic fund flows dominated by crossholding unwind. Foreigners have been net buyers lately but not enough to support the market. The macro picture has deteriorated further: unemployment for October inched up 0.1% to a record 5.4%, while domestic auto sales for November plunged 9.3% year on year. Household spendi...