Shiozumi: Japan's stellar returns will not be repeated until 2016

Top-performing Japanese equity manager Hideo Shiozumi has said investors should not expect another runaway 12 months for the country's stock markets until 2016.

Japan’s Nikkei rose by 56.7% last year – 31.5% in dollar terms – as investors gave their approval to Prime Minister’s Shinzo Abe’s reforms. However, Shiozumi (pictured), manager of the Legg Mason Japan Equity fund, expects more modest returns from the Japanese market over the next couple of years while Abe’s reforms come to fruition, followed by another strong rally in 2016. “The rise in stock prices is strongest at the initial stage and the final stage of a big change. This year and next year the returns will be more moderate,” the manager said, speaking to Investment Week. In the...