South China Morning Post (May 25)
Several factors help explain “the outperformance of Japanese shares.” Improved corporate governance and the end of deflation are important, but “the explanation with the most resonance for investors is Japan’s role as a safe haven in an increasingly risky world. This has taken on added significance because of concerns about the deepening geopolitical rift between the US and China, as well as economic and regulatory risks in China itself.” Japan boasts “the only market in Asia big and liquid enough to offer an alternative to China while still providing exposure to the reopening of its economy.”
Tags: Big, China, Corporate governance, Deflation, Economic, Exposure, Factors, Geopolitical rift, Investors, Japan, Liquid, Outperformance, Regulatory risks, Reopening, Risky world, Safe haven, Shares, US
Financial Times (May 16)
“Japan’s Topix rose to its highest level in almost 33 years on Tuesday, boosted by a rally led by foreign investors. Buyers have been drawn to Tokyo stocks by potential improvements to corporate governance, a return to wage inflation and the perceived stability of the market compared with geopolitics-riven Chinese stocks.”
Tags: 33 years, Buyers, Corporate governance, Foreign investors, Japan, Market, Rally, Stability, Stocks, Tokyo, Topix, Wage inflation
South China Morning Post (January 5)
“The truth is more likely to emerge now that Ghosn and Nissan can each tell their own stories.” This “might not only give Ghosn a chance to salvage his reputation but also prompt Japan to reflect on whether its justice and corporate governance systems serve its best interests amid competitive globalisation.”
Tags: Best interests, Corporate governance, Ghosn, Globalisation, Japan, Justice, Nissan, Reputation, Salvage, Truth
Pensions & Investments (March 22)
“For decades, South Korea’s most powerful tycoons ran their companies with little regard for minority shareholders. Then came Paul Singer. The hedge fund titan’s activist campaigns…have trained a spotlight on the corporate governance failures and complex ownership structures that saddle South Korean stocks with some of the world’s lowest valuations.” His defeat at Hyundai Motor “is unlikely to derail the nascent shift toward more accountability at the business groups that dominate Asia’s fourth-largest economy.”
Tags: Accountability, Activist, Corporate governance, Hedge-fund, Hyundai Motor, Minority shareholders, Paul Singer, South Korea, Valuations
Institutional Investor (October 5)
In a recent survey “of 101 investors managing more than $1 trillion combined, 87 percent said they would support the activist campaign of a well-regarded investor if they believed change was necessary at the company in question…. Many of the investors view themselves as change makers, with roughly half saying their firms can meaningfully influence a company’s corporate governance.”
Bloomberg (July 3)
“Strenuous efforts by Chinese regulators to ensure market stability are having the opposite effect.” The rationale is unimportant. “Whether such efforts are meant to protect important companies, stabilize markets or avoid national embarrassment, they’re preventing China’s markets from growing up. And it’s increasingly clear that they’re unnecessary.” Furthermore, “infantilizing Chinese firms…prevents the professionalization of management and improvements in corporate governance.”
Tags: China, Corporate governance, Embarrassment, Infantilizing, Management, Market stability, Professionalization, Rationale, Regulators
Financial Times (June 20)
“Six months into its financial crisis, Toshiba is shaping up as the Sistine Chapel of corporate catastrophes: you have to lie on your back to appreciate its scale, and once you get your eye in, the beauty is mesmerising.” Toshiba’s sweeping catastrophe “encapsulates much that investors — both foreign and domestic — have long despaired.” And “for a Japanese government apparently committed to reversing decades of shoddy corporate governance… Toshiba provides the perfect example of why it is pushing for change.”
Tags: Catastrophe, Corporate governance, Despair, Financial Crisis, Government, Investors, Japan, Scale, Shoddy, Sistine Chapel, Toshiba
Financial Times (April 10)
“Japan’s progress on stewardship and corporate governance reform has looked wobbly of late. The ROE gains made in the first 30 months of Abenomics (up from an average of 5.8 per cent in December 2012 to a mid-2015 peak of 8.8 per cent) have been in steady reversal since then.”
Tags: Abenomics, Corporate governance, Japan, Progress, ROE, Stewardship, Wobbly
The Week (April 2)
By any measure, Uber has been having a terrible year. Some have posited it could threaten the tech bubble. “Uber is by far the most valuable of the 187 ‘unicorn’ startups valued at $1 billion or more, despite losing at least $1.2 billion in the first half of 2016.” But Uber is unlikely to spark a chain reaction. “The tech industry’s funding sources are more diversified than they were in the original dot-com bubble, and the definition of what makes a ‘technology company’ is also much broader. Odds are, investors will see Uber’s flaws as an isolated case of bad corporate governance, not evidence that they shouldn’t be investing in startups.”
Tags: Chain reaction, Corporate governance, Diversified, Dot-com bubble, Funding, Investor, Isolated case, Startups, Tech bubble, Terrible, Uber, Unicorns
Institutional Investor (December 29)
“Disruption in the asset management industry is imminent…. Due to a combination of new technologies, shifting demographics and changing client demands, the asset manager of the future must self-regulate, adopt corporate governance by investment firms, invest in technology, and cultivate and keep top-notch talent.”
Tags: Asset management, Client demands, Corporate governance, Demographics, Disruption, Imminent, Self-regulate, Talent, Technology