Deep Dive: Japan is turning over a new leaf

ESG has improved practices

Kuniyuki Sugihara, chief portfolio manager of the Japan Impact Equity Strategy at SuMi TRUST, dives into Japanese equities.

Since the Japanese government introduced the Corporate Governance Code (CGC) in 2015 as part of its Abenomics reforms, Japanese companies have been changing the way they operate in line with environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. They have progressively improved their practices to abide by new rules as well as adapting to subsequent upgrades of the code.  This renewed attitude towards ESG has also been driven by an increased engagement between companies and institutional investors, which has become common practice in Japan, and by the growth in demand of ESG compliant-com...