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Bloomberg
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has taken over as the biggest owner of the nation’s stocks, with the total value of its
holdings climbing well above $400 billion.
Massive exchange-traded fund purchases by the BOJ to support the market amid the pandemic this year combined with subsequent valuation gains pushed its Japanese equity portfolio to 45.1 trillion yen ($434 billion) in November, according to estimates by Shingo Ide, chief equity strategist at NLI Research Institute.
That marks the first time that the central bank’s holdings have eclipsed those of the Government Pension Investment Fund, which Ide estimates stood at 44.8 trillion
yen last month, based on gains on top of its holdings as of end-September.
The dominant presence of these two public entities has raised concerns over their influence on market prices.
The BOJ ramped up its support program even further this year as the coronavirus outbreak sent equity markets tumbling.