I hold the £1bn mkt cap JP Morgan Japan (JFJ). It is up 44% over 5 years. The £650m mkt cap BGFD is up 5% and the £330m mkt cap BGS down 25%. The £4.5bn iShares Core MSCI Japan IMI ETF (SJPA) is up 37% and did not have the volatility of the others.
For comparison, the £2.3bn iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF (CUKX) is up 38% with a much smoother trajectory.
2022 was a bad year for all of these Japan securities.
In Feb 2023, JFJ and SJPA started to rise but BGFD stayed flat and BGS continued to fall.
Over 1 year JFJ is up 20%, CUKX up 16%, BGS down 5% and the others up 5%.
YTD all have beaten SJPA which is flat. BGFD is the leader, up 10%, a couple of percent better than JFJ. Will that continue?
I think BGS is undersized and it's 16% geared. Don't think I'd risk it. It'll therefore obviously do great.
BGFD does look q interesting but I wouldn't sell JFJ to invest in it.
Quite honestly, the MSCI Japan ETF has done pretty well over 5 years with much less volatility than the ITs.
Interestingly, the £560m SPDR MSCI Japan ETF (JPJP) managed 47% over 5 years. Unusually, its share class currency is Yen rather than USD. If JFJ rises another 10% or so I'd probably switch into this.
I've not tried to draw a comparison to other UK-listed ITs, ETFs or Funds holding Japanese holdings although that would be a good next step. Obviously I'm being contrarian and bottom up with BGFD rather than simply picking on recent past performance.
It's a pity that there aren't easy ways to directly invest in Japan.... but going direct means no SIPP no ISA and telephone orders or spread bets. So via a Fund, IT or ETF are the only practical routes.
Great article, although my wife tells me Seabrook Bacon and cheese is the best flavour!
Not much more to add but it would be interesting to see a comparison to other ETFs as Paul mentioned, at least superficially on some valuation metrics (not really interested in the share price performance)
I hold the £1bn mkt cap JP Morgan Japan (JFJ). It is up 44% over 5 years. The £650m mkt cap BGFD is up 5% and the £330m mkt cap BGS down 25%. The £4.5bn iShares Core MSCI Japan IMI ETF (SJPA) is up 37% and did not have the volatility of the others.
For comparison, the £2.3bn iShares Core FTSE 100 ETF (CUKX) is up 38% with a much smoother trajectory.
2022 was a bad year for all of these Japan securities.
In Feb 2023, JFJ and SJPA started to rise but BGFD stayed flat and BGS continued to fall.
Over 1 year JFJ is up 20%, CUKX up 16%, BGS down 5% and the others up 5%.
YTD all have beaten SJPA which is flat. BGFD is the leader, up 10%, a couple of percent better than JFJ. Will that continue?
I think BGS is undersized and it's 16% geared. Don't think I'd risk it. It'll therefore obviously do great.
BGFD does look q interesting but I wouldn't sell JFJ to invest in it.
Quite honestly, the MSCI Japan ETF has done pretty well over 5 years with much less volatility than the ITs.
Interestingly, the £560m SPDR MSCI Japan ETF (JPJP) managed 47% over 5 years. Unusually, its share class currency is Yen rather than USD. If JFJ rises another 10% or so I'd probably switch into this.
https://g.co/finance/JFJ:LON?window=5Y&comparison=LON%3ABGFD%2CLON%3ABGS%2CLON%3ASJPA%2CLON%3ACUKX
Hi Paul,
I've not tried to draw a comparison to other UK-listed ITs, ETFs or Funds holding Japanese holdings although that would be a good next step. Obviously I'm being contrarian and bottom up with BGFD rather than simply picking on recent past performance.
It's a pity that there aren't easy ways to directly invest in Japan.... but going direct means no SIPP no ISA and telephone orders or spread bets. So via a Fund, IT or ETF are the only practical routes.
OB
Hi OB, My analysis is obviously very basic. I just thought I'd share my thoughts.
The volatility surprised me.
The smooth upward performance of the FTSE 100 was also a surprise.
Great article, although my wife tells me Seabrook Bacon and cheese is the best flavour!
Not much more to add but it would be interesting to see a comparison to other ETFs as Paul mentioned, at least superficially on some valuation metrics (not really interested in the share price performance)