BOJ Adopts Shame Gauge as Japan Targets Higher Returns
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Buried amid the surprise stimulus by the Bank of Japan last week was a footnote: the central bank will start using an equity gauge designed to shame the nation’s companies into becoming more profitable.
The BOJ can buy exchange-traded funds tracking the JPX-Nikkei Index 400, it said Oct. 31, when it tripled annual purchases of ETFs to about 3 trillion yen ($26 billion). The nation’s $1.1 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund is already investing in the state-backed equity measure created to make Japanese companies use cash better.