Japan's Comeback: From ‘Dead Money’ to Investment Opportunity

By and large, last year’s losers end up being the following year’s winners. Sectors, regions, and asset classes tend to bounce back. For Japan, that bounce back has taken a bit longer than that. Try about 30 years. After booming in the 1980s, Japan has been considered ‘dead money’, a place where capital goes to die.

But times may be changing.

Thanks to a variety of factors, Japan is once again seen as a portfolio driver and recent returns for the nation have sparked hope that the rally will continue. For investors of all stripes, the nation’s stocks and funds offer an interesting play on global growth, and can come with big yields and big discounts to value.