Like any good love affair, it has had its ups and downs.
Having sold French sovereign debt for the fifth month in a row in March, Japanese investors may start to rekindle their interest, according to fund managers interviewed by Bloomberg including Nissay Asset Management and Amundi Asset Management. Emmanuel Macron's victory in Sunday's presidential election has removed the major political risk factor and yields are attractive, they say.
"With the key risk factor in Europe out of the way, it will be easier for investors like ourselves to consider overweighting France," said Eiichiro Miura, chief portfolio manager at Nissay in Tokyo. Life insurers and pension funds could start directing more money into European bond and credit markets, he said. The firm, with $80 billion under management, is a unit of life insurer Nippon Life Insurance.