JUNE 25, 2014
AIMA Japan and Eurekahedge reveal results of survey regarding Japanese institutional investor current and future appetites over alternative investments
In March and April 2014, a survey was conducted by AIMA Japan and Eurekahedge to gauge important insights into market sentiment, investment trends and key regulatory challenges facing the Asian asset management industry; with a particular emphasis on the outlook for Japan. The 131 respondents who contributed their insight hailed from various financial sectors – a 39% majority from investment advisory, 14% from banking, 15% from consultancy and 11% from hedge funds, with the remainder from family offices, insurance companies, asset management, trust banks and pension funds.
Notable results from the survey, which were calculated on an average basis from the respondents, showed that Japanese investors remain bullish on the prospects of the Japanese economy, with 72% of survey respondents hopeful that Abenomics will continue to yield positive results in 2014. For the Nikkei 225, 72% expected it to finish 2014 above the 15,000 mark with 51% believing it will be higher than 20,000 by the end of the 2014. Likewise, only 8% thought it would fall below 100, while 44% estimate it would be between 100 – 105, and the remaining 48% expects it to be higher than 105 by the end of this year. Almost 70% of investors expect JGB yields to remain below the 1% mark based on their expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will continue to maintain its current level of bond buying.
In terms of the investment trends, approximately 80% of the investors preferred not to change their allocation of instruments in their portfolios, as well as their JPY against non-JPY asset ratios.
Other findings from the survey found that investors plan to increase their allocations to Global, Asia ex-Japan and Middle East/Africa mandated funds, while trimming their portfolio exposure to Latin America and Europe. Their exposure to Japan would be maintained at the current level.
Furthermore, survey results found that investors intend to increase their exposure to long/short equities and event driven strategies while curtailing exposure to CTA, macro and fixed income strategies. Ranked high on a list of anxieties were regulatory challenges such as increased J-FSA inspections, and the Dodd-Frank Act. Amongst the geopolitical and economic issues, China was the topic that ranked first in the list of concerns going forward, followed by interest rate volatility triggered by the Fed’s QE phase out.
About Eurekahedge
Founded in 2001, Eurekahedge is the world’s largest independent data provider and research house dedicated to alternative investment funds. Maintaining coverage on over 29,000 funds across all strategies and asset classes, Eurekahedge strives to deliver a complete overview to its clients. Eurekahedge research covers hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, UCITS hedge funds, Islamic funds, insurance-linked securities and long-only absolute return funds.
In addition to fund data Eurekahedge publishes over 100 alternative investment benchmark indices along with the monthly Eurekahedge Report covering asset flows, fund performance, macroeconomic trends, league tables and specific index returns on the hedge fund industry.
About AIMA Japan
AIMA Japan is a Japanese Ippan Shadan Hojin operating independently in Japan under a local license agreement. The AIMA Japan national group was formed 2001. The AIMA Japan national group complements AIMA’s strong Asia-Pacific presence with other national groups established in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. The national group was formed in response to the strong growth in the alternative investment industry in Japan. AIMA Japan's corporate members include fund of hedge funds managers, hedge fund managers, prime brokers, fund administrators, auditors, lawyers and institutional investors. Details on how to join AIMA are available here. The objectives of the AIMA Japan national group are to: provide local representation of members located in Japan; provide a unified voice for the industry in Japan; increase investor education; increase transparency and promote due diligence and related sound practices; and work closely with regulators and interested parties in order to promote the responsible use of alternate investments.
About AIMA
As the global hedge fund association, the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) has over 1,400 corporate members (with over 7,000 individual contacts) worldwide, based in over 50 countries. Members include hedge fund managers, fund of hedge funds managers, prime brokers, legal and accounting firms, investors, fund administrators and independent fund directors. AIMA’s manager members manage a combined $1.5 trillion in assets (as of March 2014). All AIMA members benefit from AIMA’s active influence in policy development, its leadership in industry initiatives, including education and sound practice manuals, and its excellent reputation with regulators worldwide. AIMA is a dynamic organisation that reflects its members’ interests and provides them with a vibrant global network. AIMA is committed to developing industry skills and education standards and is a co-founder of the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation (CAIA) – the industry’s first and only specialised educational standard for alternative investment specialists. For further information, please visit AIMA’s website, www.aima.org.
For further information, please contact:
Contact Details
Alexander Mearns
Chief Executive Officer
alex@eurekahedge.com
+65 6212 0925
Eurekahedge Pte Ltd
Nexus, #02-04
1 Fusionopolis Link
Singapore
138542
+65 6212 0900
