Rush to ‘Value Up’ may be Asian stocks’ best defence from Trump
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A Japan-inspired strategy of seeking to boost shareholder returns, corporate governance and market valuations is spreading like a wildfire across Asia. From Seoul to New Delhi, governments and regulators are hurrying to implement their own versions of Japan’s decade-long program of structural reforms that helped drive its benchmark index to a record high this year. While these initiatives vary, they are often collectively referred by the term coined by South Korea: “Value Up.” The timing looks to be fortuitous for investors: Donald Trump’s election victory this month and his adversarial trade policies threaten to undermine Asia’s economic growth and corporate earnings. There are already some signs “value up” can counter this threat. “When I present to my clients, I tell them that there are five great themes in Asia” and one of them is corporate reforms to enhance shareholder returns, said Sat Duhra, a fund manager at Janus Henderson Inves...