(Alliance News) - JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust PLC on Wednesday said that despite a "good year" for Japan's equities market and its net asset value increasing, it significantly underperformed against its benchmark.
The London-based company, which invests in Japanese firms "across the market cap spectrum" in high-growth industries, said its NAV per share at September 30 was 500.9 pence, up from 472.1p at the same time one year prior.
The stock was up 1.5% at 477.60p on Wednesday morning in London.
NAV total return for the year that ended on September 30 was positive 8.0%, while the benchmark Tokyo Stock Price Index returned positive 14.7%.
JPMorgan Japanese also declared a final dividend of 6.5p, up 4.8% from 6.2p the previous year.
Chair Christopher Samuel explained that the trust's performance over the first half of financial 2023 was in line with the index, but it "lagged the market" in the second half due to a "very challenging end" of the period.
"After the earlier periods of underperformance, this year's numbers are indeed disappointing," Samuel commented, adding that reasons for the underperformance included "the market's rotation into low quality, value and cyclical stocks at the expense of the quality and growth stocks favoured by the company's strategy."
Looking ahead, however, the trust is "encouraged by the improvements in the Japanese economy and equity market sentiment over the past year, and shares the portfolio managers' optimism about the country's longer-term prospects.
"We are particularly gratified that corporate governance reforms appear to be gathering momentum, as this has the potential to significantly enhance shareholder returns across the entire market," Samuel continued.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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JPMorgan Japanese (JFJ)