Kuroda, The Caretaker? The Tokyo Whale Is Quietly Buying Up Huge Stakes in Japan Inc.

by Anthony B. Sanders
Confounded Interest

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has been propping up Japanese stocks through its voracious appetite for exchange traded funds (ETFs).

(Bloomberg) — They may not realize it yet, but Japan Inc.’s executives are increasingly working for a shareholder unlike any other: the nation’s money-printing central bank.

While the Bank of Japan’s name is nowhere to be found in regulatory filings on major stock investors, the monetary authority’s exchange-traded fund purchases have made it a top 10 shareholder in about 90 percent of the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg from public data. It’s now a major owner of more Japanese blue-chips than both BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, and Vanguard Group, which oversees more than $3 trillion.

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