Japan fund managers slightly raise bond exposure, trim stocks in January

Japanese fund managers slightly increased bond holdings in their model portfolios in January while shaving their exposure to equities as global markets braced for potential turbulence under new US President Donald Trump. The survey of five Japan-based fund managers conducted between January 17 and 24 showed respondents on average wanted to allocate 56.4 percent of their portfolios to bonds in January, up from 56.2 percent in December.
Within bonds, the respondents cut their North American debt exposure to 32.3 percent in January from 34.9 percent in December. The attraction of US Treasuries lessened in January, with the benchmark 10-year note yield pulling back from a two-year peak above 2.6 percent scaled in mid-December to as low as 2.3 percent a month later. On the other hand, the fund managers increased their euro zone debt exposure to 19.5 percent in January from 17.8 percent in December with German bund yields climbing to a one-year high this month.