Japan Research Pack

The S&P/JPX Dividend Aristocrats Index, developed jointly by Japan Exchange Group,the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and S&P Dow Jones Indices, is an index comprising stockswith sustainability and growth in dividends combined with high dividend yields.

    Specifically, the index is designed to measure the performance of the companies withthe highest dividend yields among TOPIX constituent stocks with float-adjusted marketcap of at least ￥50bn that have raised or maintained dividends for at least tenconsecutive fiscal years (never reducing or skipping dividends). The index had 49constituents as of 28 April. The S&P/JPX Dividend Aristocrats Index had total returns of140.5% from the end of July 2006 through 16 May 2017, outperforming the TOPIX(including dividends) by 93.0% (Figure 1).

    Analyzing TOPIX-relative monthly returns for the S&P/JPX Dividend Aristocrats Indexfrom August 2006 through May 2017, we see seasonality in these returns, withoutperformance of 1.4% in June and 1.6% in August (Figure 2). We attribute the Juneoutperformance in part to increased focus on corporate governance and shareholderreturns ahead of general shareholder meetings in late June, leading to heightenedattention on dividend growth prospects, particularly for companies that have hikeddividends in consecutive fiscal years. For August, there have been a number of casesof overall market correction, and we think investors may have favored stocks with highdividend yields amid overall market downturns.

    Only two investment trusts currently track the S&P/JPX Dividend Aristocrats Index: theNEXT NOTES S&P/JPX Dividend Aristocrats Index USD Hedged NTR ETN (code:2065; market cap of ￥2.22bn as of 16 May 2017) and the SMT Japan Equity DividendsAristocrats Index Open (net assets of ￥310mn as of 16 May 2017). However, the OneETF High Dividend Japan Equity (code: 1494) is slated to list on 23 May, and we notethat this new ETF listing could call further attention to the S&P/JPX DividendAristocrats Index.

    Only some of the constituent stocks and index weightings for the S&P/JPX DividendAristocrats Index have been disclosed. We have therefore screened for stocks basedon the selection standards for S&P/JPX Dividend Aristocrats Index constituent stocks(Figure 3). These stocks could be viewed as demonstrating both growth (high growthand stability in dividends) and value (high dividend yield) while maintaining a certainlevel of market cap and liquidity. We think selective investment in these stocks couldalso be positioned as a GARP (growth at reasonable price) strategy from theperspective of dividends.