Financial Association News on October 10 (Editor Zhou Ziyi) - 'Stock God’ Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has raised a total of 281.8 billion yen (approximately 1.9 billion US dollars) through the issuance of a series of yen bonds. This transaction has sparked speculation about whether the legendary investor will increase exposure to Japanese assets.

The terms of the bond issuance show that the American investment giant issued bonds with maturities of 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, 10 years, 20 years, 28 years, and 30 years. Messages from the bookkeeping manager of the bond issuance show that they increased longer-term bonds during this bond issuance and canceled the proposed 15-year bonds.

The highlight of this issuance is the 3-year bond with a face interest rate of 1.031%. According to compiled media data, the average face interest rate of 3-year yen bonds issued this year is approximately 0.865%.

Berkshire Hathaway raised a total of 155.4 billion yen (approximately 1.04 billion US dollars) from the 3-year bonds, exceeding half of the total amount; followed by the 5-year bonds, raising 58 billion yen (approximately 0.39 billion US dollars).

This is the largest issuance since Berkshire Hathaway first issued yen bonds in 2019.

What will this fund be used for?

According to the documents submitted by Berkshire Hathaway to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the funds raised from this transaction will be used for general corporate purposes.

In fact, the most concerned about Berkshire's financing move are a group of stock market investors, as they are speculating whether Buffett will use this yen-denominated funds raised in the bond market to buy stocks of Japanese companies.

Earlier this year, Buffett had increased his stake in five major trading companies, driving the Nikkei 225 index to a historic high. If, as some analysts speculate, Berkshire's investments were to expand to other stocks such as banks, insurance companies, and shipping companies, it could potentially bring even greater gains to the Japanese stock market.

Haruyasu Kato, fund manager at Asset Management One Co. in Tokyo, said, "The fact that the company was able to raise so much funding in a year demonstrates investors' confidence in Berkshire. This transaction also shows the strong demand of Japanese investors for high-yield bonds."

President Mitsushige Akino of Ichiyoshi Asset Management pointed out that the market is now focusing on which stocks Buffett may purchase, and whether there are stocks that meet his criteria.

However, Mitsushige Akino noted that for foreign investors, the appeal of Japanese stocks has waned, "If you don't buy now, you won't be left behind."

Akino added that investing in channels other than Japanese stocks with the raised funds is also a good investment direction.