Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may be somewhat incompetent as a politician and diplomat, but as an investor, he is an outstanding figure, having outperformed the Japanese stock market benchmark index in recent years.
According to Nomura Securities analysis, since the beginning of 2020, Shigeru Ishiba's individual stock portfolio has risen by about 102%, far exceeding the 60% increase in the TOPIX index during the same period.
The Prime Minister's performance in the stock market also surpassed that of all members of his cabinet, including Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Economic Minister Yoji Muto, whose portfolio returns were 83% and 53%, respectively.
Shigeru Ishiba, who was re-elected Prime Minister with a narrow margin after the early elections, has been struggling with low approval ratings and damaging headlines. The latest opinion poll shows that only 31% of people support his cabinet. He was recently found sleeping in parliament, missing a photo opportunity with other world leaders at the APEC summit held in Brazil this month.
This Prime Minister, said to be obsessed with military equipment, holds seven stocks, including Japan's two largest defense contractors, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, whose stocks have soared since Japan announced in 2022 that it would double its defense budget as a percentage of GDP.
Shigeru Ishiba's holdings also include Nippon Steel, which is involved in a highly politicized, multi-billion dollar acquisition deal for US Steel.
The analysis by Nomura Securities was conducted after Shigeru Ishiba's cabinet members disclosed their asset holdings last week. The disclosure requirements date back to the 1970s, when then-Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was arrested for involvement in a bribery scandal related to aerospace manufacturer Lockheed and several well-known Japanese companies.
Japanese cabinet ministers are prohibited from trading stocks, real estate, and other assets during their tenure. Nomura Securities analysts found that these ministers' portfolios have remained largely unchanged since 2020. They also compared Shigeru Ishiba's current portfolio with the one he disclosed during his last term as a cabinet minister in 2016, finding little change.
An analysis tracking the average return rates of stock portfolios of Japanese cabinet members since 2020 found that 5 of them outperformed the TOPIX index, 7 performed poorly, and 2 roughly matched the benchmark index. The analysis focused mainly on their holdings in large companies, including stocks held by their spouses.
The worst-performing stock-picker in the cabinet includes the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, which is ultimately responsible for managing the $1.45 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund, the world's largest retirement savings fund.
Nomura Securities stock strategist Tomochika Kitaoka stated that given that past governments have struggled to encourage Japanese households to shift their cash savings into risk assets, it is very important for cabinet members to act as individual investors.
He pointed out that former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced his resignation in August this year, did not hold any stocks at all.
However, Kitaoka stated that given the restrictions on trading activities for cabinet members, investors should not have 'excessive expectations' about the stocks they hold.
An official from the Prime Minister's Office of Japan declined to comment on Shigeru Ishiba's stock portfolio but pointed out that promoting Japan as an asset management center is one of the new government's policies.
Article forwarded from: Jin Shi Data