The upside of paying less dividends

WHAT can frustrate shareholders of Japanese stocks is how companies there tend to pay out less dividends and seem to be poorly governed.

But this is not necessarily a bad thing if profits are shared with employees, indirectly bolstering the economy, said Alex Treves, head of Japan equities of fund manager Fidelity.

"Japanese companies pay more attention to their employees, they think about the health of their customers and their own suppliers," Mr Treves, who was in town for a meeting, told The Business Times yesterday.