Why 2017 could be year Japan is finally accepted back into the global investment environment

James Hart, investment director for Witan Investment Services, has identified Asian areas of interest where the £1.7bn Witan and £194m Witan Pacific investment trusts have recently increased their exposure including Korea, Singapore and Japan.

He said Asia and emerging markets are currently the two most interesting areas in both the short and long term, having underperformed in recent years. With its new performance benchmark incorporating a 5% weighting towards emerging markets and the addition of an EM mandate run by GQG Partners, the flagship Witan trust has upped its weighting to these areas. Korea and Singapore are among those countries that have suffered the most but, in turn, are where the greatest opportunities lie. "These countries are significantly undervalued as opposed to their global peers. This means there ...