Morningstar reports fund flows for Japan

[TokyoWart]

Morningstar reported fund flows for Japan and noted the unusually high net inflows with the start of the new NISA but also reports that the bulk of those funds went to "world equity" funds.

JPY 1.3 Trillion Net Inflows: More Than 4 Times in One Month

In January, the new NISA, or Nippon Individual Savings Account, started, and there were JPY 1.3
trillion net inflows to open-end funds, more than 4 times larger than the previous month and the
largest recorded since December 2021. The driving force was the world equity category, which
recorded JPY 1.16 trillion of net inflows on its own. It is assumed that some large amount of
money from growth investment quota flowed into the category. Japan equity also doubled its net
inflows from December, though the amount was JPY 130 billion, one ninth of world equity.
Allocation funds turned to JPY 50 billion net inflows from net outflows in the previous month. So,
they might have been modestly affected by the new NISA launch.

https://images.mscomm.morningstar.com/W ... gnId=26123

[sutebayashi]

It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with the markets, when they turn south for a time, one day.

With the NISA investment brackets now being re-usable, I can imagine some people will feel the urge to bail out to cash, and then buy back lower.

This is obviously a risky strategy as the markets may rebound and the sellers might get it wrong.

But, I can still imagine people reacting that way, when they get struck by fear.