‘All-country’ Stock Mutual Funds Popular with NISA Investors

Jiji Press

11:54 JST, February 9, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Brokerage firms in Japan are being flooded with more buy orders than before following the expansion about a month ago of Japan’s Nippon Individual Savings Account tax-exemption program for small-lot investments.

Particularly popular among NISA investors are “all-country” mutual funds, which target stocks around the world, as well as individual stocks with high dividends.

At Rakuten Securities Inc., which has the largest number of NISA accounts, the most popular investment product is the eMaxis Slim All-Country mutual fund, which is recommended by many on social media and other internet platforms for its low investment costs, making it suitable for periodic accumulated investment.

In January, the net purchase value, or the value of purchases minus redemptions, of eMaxis Slim All-Country reached a record high of ¥342.8 billion, suggesting that its popularity has been boosted by the NISA expansion.