BOJ owns more than 5 pct of a dozen Japan REITs - FSA
19/05/2016 11:50
TOKYO, May 19 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan now owns more
than five percent of 12 listed real estate investment trusts
(REITs), filings to the Financial Services Agency (FSA) showed
on Thursday, as its asset purchase programme shows no signs of
ending any time soon.
The BOJ buys 90 billion yen ($818.3 million) of REITs
annually as a part of its stimulus programme. In spite of more
than three years of aggressive easing, however, the central bank
has not reached its inflation target of two percent and economic
growth has hardly accelerated.
As its REITs portfolio kept expanding, the BOJ scrapped its
long-held rule to limit ownership of each REIT to within five
percent in December, a move opposed by three of its nine board
members.
In the following month, the BOJ took additional easing steps
by introducing negative interest rates.
After three years of massive asset purchases by the BOJ,
Japanese markets have become increasingly dominated by the
central bank.
The BOJ is also thought to own more than five percent of
many listed Japanese shares through its buying of exchange
traded funds (ETFs) though its holdings are not made public
because the central bank is not buying shares directly.
The BOJ has more than a five percent stake in the following
REITs, according to the FSA, the country's financial watchdog:
Japan Real Estate Investment 8952.T
United Urban Investment 8960.T
Japan Prime Realty Investment 8955.T
Advance Residence Investment 3269.T
Frontier Real Estate Investment 8964.T
Nippon Accommodations Fund 3226.T
Japan Logistics Fund 8967.T
Daiwa House Residential 8984.T
Industrial & Infrastructure Fund Investment 3249.T
Japan Excellent Inc 8987.T
Tokyu REIT 8957.T
Fukuoka REIT 8968.T
($1 = 109.9900 yen)
(Reporting by Hideyuki Sano and Hirotoshi Sugiyama; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)
((hideyuki.sano@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 6441 1827; Reuters
Messaging: hideyuki.sano.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: JAPAN BOJ/REIT