著者

家森 信善

出版者

滋賀大学経済学会

雑誌

彦根論叢 (ISSN:03875989)

巻号頁・発行日

no.390, pp.34-49, 2011

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This paper analyzes commodity investmenttrusts and commodity Exchange Traded Funds(ETFs) as methods for investing in commodities,which are expected to be important toolsfor individual investors who wish to participatein commodity investments. The "Financial BigBang" reforms initiated by Prime MinisterRyutaro Hashimoto during the latter half ofthe 1990s substantially changed the Japanese financialsystem, which had been strictly regulated. However, more than 50% of Japanesehouseholds' financial assets are still cashand bank deposits, and the ratio of risky assetsin households' portfolios remains low. Onereason that households hold few risky assets isthat individual investors do not feel they haveenough knowledge to risk their money on suchinvestments. Therefore, collective investmentvehicles such as investment trusts, which allow individual investors to hold risky assets withoutextensive knowledge, are expected to playan important role in the future. Among commodityinvestments, commodity investmenttrusts and ETFs seem most promising. Thanksto substantial deregulation, the listing of variousETFs became possible in the early 2000s.Initially, all ETFs were linked to certain kindsof stock indexes, such as Nikkei 225 andTOPIX. Gradually, new types of ETFs, whichare linked to indexes or prices of non-stock asse ts , have be en introduc ed. The f ir st commodity ETF in Japan, linked to the priceof gold in London, was offered in August 2007.Soon, other commodity ETFs followed. Today,thirty commodity ETFs are listed on the TokyoStock Exchange and the Osaka SecuritiesExchange. However, this paper finds that manycommodity ETFs are thinly traded. Therefore,we need to implement policies as soon as possibleto encourage Japanese investors toparticipate in the commodity ETF market. Encouragingmore commodity ETF transactionsmay also lead to active arbitrages between ETF markets and commodity future markets.This paper analyzes commodity investment trusts and commodity Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) as methods for investing in commodities, which are expected to be important tools for individual investors who wish to participate in commodity investments. The "Financial Big Bang" reforms initiated by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto during the latter half of the 1990s substantially changed the Japanese financial system, which had been strictly regulated. However, more than 50% of Japanese households' financial assets are still cash and bank deposits, and the ratio of risky assets in households' portfolios remains low. One reason that households hold few risky assets is that individual investors do not feel they have enough knowledge to risk their money on such investments. Therefore, collective investmentvehicles such as investment trusts, which allowindividual investors to hold risky assets withoutextensive knowledge, are expected to play an important role in the future. Among commodityinvestments, commodity investment trusts and ETFs seem most promising. Thanks to substantial deregulation, the listing of various ETFs became possible in the early 2000s. Initially, all ETFs were linked to certain kinds of stock indexes, such as Nikkei 225 and TOPIX. Gradually, new types of ETFs, which are linked to indexes or prices of non-stock assets, have been introduced. The first commodity ETF in Japan, linked to the price of gold in London, was offered in August 2007. Soon, other commodity ETFs followed. Today,thirty commodity ETFs are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange. However, this paper finds that many commodity ETFs are thinly traded. Therefore, we need to implement policies as soon as possible to encourage Japanese investors to participate in the commodity ETF market. Encouraging more commodity ETF transactions may also lead to active arbitrages between ETF markets and commodity future markets.