Japan

Japan's economy grew by a better than expected 1.1% in the final quarter of last year, although it contracted by over 5% during the whole of 2009.

Legal & General Investment Management plans to merge its £34m Japanese trust into its tracker equivalent, with manager Andrew Nagele and team set to leave the group.

GLG Partners has launched a currency-hedged replica of its £698m Japan CoreAlpha fund.

As a country, Japan's rocky ride through the global downturn has led some commentators to question the country's future, while the long-term returns from the market have been variously disappointing or unimpressive for nearly two decades.

India is set to become a financial powerhouse within the next 15 years. By Nitin Jain, principal fund manager, Kotak Mahindra (UK) Ltd

Deflation in Japan has accelerated at its fastest pace since 1970, threatening the recovery of the world's second largest economy.

Gartmore has launched its Japan Absolute Return fund managed by John Stewart.

Japan, the world's second-largest economy, has for 20 years been an unfashionable area to invest in and therefore largely ignored by investors.

The big issues that long term investors must address when looking for investments

Standard & Poor's has threatened to cut Japan's government debt rating amid concerns the Government is failing to fix the nation's finances fast enough.