According to Zhizhong Finance APP, the obsession of aggressive investors with Japan's Assets has reached record levels. Their influence is similarly significant.

According to compiled data, these Funds have purchased at least 1 trillion yen (6.6 billion USD) worth of Japanese Stocks this year. Analysis of the data shows that even considering exits, their net purchases may exceed 500 billion yen.

This makes them the largest buyers of Stocks in the country, second only to companies engaging in Share Buybacks.

Led by foreign Funds including Elliott Investment Management and Oasis Management Co., as well as specific Japanese investors like Yoshiaki Murakami, aggressive investors have taken stakes in at least 146 companies. They have successfully demanded disposals of Real Estate, changes in Global Strategy, and Share Buybacks. In contrast, Japan's Banks, Insurance companies, Trust Banks, and retail investors have all been net sellers this year.

Kazuhiro Toyoda, head of Japanese Stocks at Schroders Investment Management, stated, "They have played a positive role in changing corporate management's mindset from 'No, we have no problems' to 'Yes, there are challenges.'" He pointed out that the influence of aggressive investors on a company's stock prices plays an important role in their own investment decisions.

The compiled investment data only includes shares publicly disclosed by aggressive investors, meaning the actual scale of their activities is almost certainly higher.

Another report from the Tokyo Stock Exchange shows that so far this year, foreign investors have only purchased 400 billion yen of Cash / Money Market stocks in Japan. Japanese institutional investors have been net sellers as they have unwound cross-shareholdings, while retail investors have maintained a firm contrarian stance and sold on rallies.

The world's largest activist Fund, Elliott, has significantly strengthened its business in Japan through four new investments, including a $2 billion bet on SoftBank Group. In contrast, the company made only three investments during the four-year period from 2020 to 2023.

Oasis, based in Hong Kong, has initiated a record 12 new public actions, while a group of funds linked to Yoshiaki Murakami have also been active. Another domestic activist investor, Strategic Capital Inc., has also made five new investments.

According to compiled data, activist investors are currently estimated to hold at least 4.8 trillion yen of stocks in Japan, accounting for about 0.5% of the total market capitalization of approximately 980 trillion yen.

The largest single activist investor is Effissimo Capital Management Pte, which holds shipping companies.$Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (9107.JP)$, insurance companies.$Dai-ichi Life Holdings (8750.JP)$And copier manufacturers.$Ricoh (7752.JP)$Large number of shares.

Silchester, headquartered in the United Kingdom, holds shares in more than 30 Japanese companies, including construction company.$Taisei (1801.JP)$And industrial machinery manufacturers.$Sumitomo Heavy Industries (6302.JP)$。

Most market participants expect that shareholder rights activities next year will be equally fervent and even more intense. This is partly due to the pressure from the Japanese Financial Services Agency on companies to stop cross-shareholdings. Cross-shareholding has provided reliable support for management to fend off external investors for decades.

Analysts from Morgan Stanley, including Sho Nakazawa, wrote: "Given the focus on improving capital efficiency, we may see an increase in activist investors."

Editor/ping