JPMorgan Liquidates Japan Fund Following 'Significant' Redemptions, Poor Performance

The investment unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM said it will liquidate one of its Japan-focused funds due to a large string of client withdrawals and poor performances over the years.

According to Bloomberg, JPMorgan's Japan Market Neutral Fund was launched in June 2011, but will now close after its total assets fell to around $17 million - below the $30 million liquidation threshold. The fund has seen what the company described as "significant redemption" over the past few months - a move that may not necessarily be surprising as the fun has lost a cumulative 16 percent since inception.

Investor appetite for Japanese assets has been impacted by uncertainty over the direction of the country's central banking policies and what impact negative interest rates will have on local assets.

Bloomberg obtained a letter from the fund's managers which explained the closure. It noted a "limited prospect of attracting new subscriptions."

Meanwhile, other Japan focused funds have seen similar outflows. Bloomberg noted that WisdomTree Investments has seen $4.6 billion worth of redemption in its Japan Hedged Equity Fund. In fact, investors pulled out $974 million from Japan-focused hedge funds in the first quarter of 2016, representing a rate of redemption six times more than what was seen in the same quarter a year ago.