Japan is back — and this time it's different, says Lazard's June-Yon Kim
Recoveries in Japanese shares have often fizzled since the bubble burst 30 years ago, but Lazard sees reason to believe.
Japan’s stock market finally regained its bubble-era high in March this year — more than three decades later — and has since topped that level several times. But since the bubble, the much-hyped “Japan’s back!” story has often ended in disappointment.
Is this time different? Lazard Asset Management’s head of Japanese equities, June-Yon Kim, thinks it is.
“We believe Japan is seeing two very strong tailwinds," he told Capital Brief. "The first tailwind, which you're probably familiar with, is the improvement in corporate governance. The second is the end of deflation, which is structural.”
But the immediate strength in Japanese equities is more obvious: “That dividend yield spread is the most attractive anywhere in the world,” Kim says.
