Cash hoarders and debt dependents

Although prudence is often justified, hoarding is not and allocation of capital needs to be carefully assessed

The cornerstone of a good Japanese investment strategy is to access companies at high starting yields, or at levels from which dividends can grow in real terms. Dividends in Japan will continue to make up a significant part of overall long-term returns, in just the same way as they have done in the past, thereby reflecting the experience of other developed world markets like the US and the UK. A flurry of upward revisions in the last quarter resulted in a 7% rise in the market's dividends. Next year, however, growth will be slower both for companies and the market, and, depending on the s...