Negative rates pushing Japanese investors out of country into US bonds

Tokyo

WHEN Japan's central bank shocked markets with its negative interest rates policy in January, its main aim was to squeeze investors out of safe havens and into assets that would stoke economic growth, such as stocks and property.

While Japan's perennially conservative investors have indeed pursued better returns away from Japanese government bonds, their hunt for yield has taken their money out of the country and into the US debt market, particularly Treasuries.