In January 2024, Japanese stocks rose sharply as overseas investors bought Japanese stocks for the first time since June 2023. There has been no change in the composition of Japanese equities driven by overseas investors, who account for over 70% of the TSE’s trading volume. Meanwhile, since the TSE’s request at the end of March 2023, listed companies have been struggling to raise their stock price valuations (P/B). We have also seen an increase in disclosures from listed companies that seem to be expecting overseas investors to buy their shares. In this article, we will focus on the ratio of foreign shareholdings and analyze the trends in companies in which overseas investors invest. The contents of this article should be of interest not only to overseas investors, but also to listed companies.
The Metrical universe of 1,822 companies (as of January 2024) is divided into five groups (30% or more, 20% or more but less than 30%, 15% or more but less than 20%, 10% or more but less than 15%, and less than 10%) based on foreign shareholding ratio and analyzed for each category. The median foreign shareholding ratio is 15%; companies with 15% or more can be said to have higher foreign shareholding ratios. Also, as discussed in my previous article “Takeover Defense Measures and Foreign Shareholder Ratio,” there is a sort of threshold at 30%. When the foreign shareholding ratio exceeds 30%, it becomes more difficult for the company to secure 1/3 of the special resolution at the shareholders’ meeting, and thus the influence of foreign shareholders becomes stronger, which in turn can be expected to improve the company’s management.