Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ryohin-keikaku-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2765:1" rel="noopener">Ryohin Keikaku (7453 JP)</a> fired a broadside at Uniqlo last month when it confirmed not only that its new president would be a former lieutenant to Tadashi Yanai, but also that it plans to reduce prices to compete with Uniqlo in apparel and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nitori-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:20386:1" rel="noopener">Nitori Holdings (9843 JP)</a> in home.While Muji is today a quarter of the size of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fast-retailing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:751:1" rel="noopener">Fast Retailing (9983 JP)</a>, it has big plans to become a ¥3 trillion behemoth in just 10 years with more stores in Japan than even discount apparel chain, Shimamura.Is this a real plan or just a rallying of the troops, Uniqlo-style?

Ryohin Keikaku (7453 JP) fired a broadside at Uniqlo last month when it confirmed not only that its new president would be a former lieutenant to Tadashi Yanai, but also that it plans to reduce prices to compete with Uniqlo in apparel and Nitori Holdings (9843 JP) in home.While Muji is today a quarter of the size of Fast Retailing (9983 JP), it has big plans to become a ¥3 trillion behemoth in just 10 years with more stores in Japan than even discount apparel chain, Shimamura.Is this a real plan or just a rallying of the troops, Uniqlo-style?

Index Rebal Trades & Special Situations, Quiddity Advisors

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Index Rebal Trades & Special Situations

Quiddity Advisors

Pan-Asia Catalysts/Events

Event-Driven

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation. For companies with "low liquidity" the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation. This affects both TSE-1 incumbents and new entrants (depending on the date of entry). Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE for all TSE1 constituents. Last April, 71 constituents saw their liquidity factors removed causing an increase in their respective FFWs used for index calculation resulting in a TOPIX upweight.This situation opens up interesting opportunities for a basket trade. Below is a discussion regarding the key details of TSE's FFW Calculation Methodology and the candidate stocks which could potentially experience a change in the application of the liquidity factor (including some surprisingly big names).

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) calculates Free-Float Weight (FFW) for each listed company and uses this value as a key component of TOPIX Index Calculation. For companies with "low liquidity" the FFW will be multiplied by a fixed liquidity factor of 0.75 to derive the final FFW used for index calculation. This affects both TSE-1 incumbents and new entrants (depending on the date of entry). Every April, the application of this liquidity factor is reviewed by the TSE for all TSE1 constituents. Last April, 71 constituents saw their liquidity factors removed causing an increase in their respective FFWs used for index calculation resulting in a TOPIX upweight.This situation opens up interesting opportunities for a basket trade. Below is a discussion regarding the key details of TSE's FFW Calculation Methodology and the candidate stocks which could potentially experience a change in the application of the liquidity factor (including some surprisingly big names).   

TOPIX Index Upweights: The Big April Basket 2021

Derivatives and Quantitative Strategist

Gaudenz Schneider

<ul>
<li>
Context: This Insight follows up on previously highlighted relative value opportunities, using a statistical methodology based on mean-reversion to identify opportunities in paired securities.</li>
<li>
Highlights: Currently twelve pair trade opportunities across four markets and five sectors persist.</li>
<li>
Why read: Statistical analysis offers a unique perspective on relative value. Gain insights into actionable statistical pair trade opportunities and monitor performance of previously highlighted pairs.</li>
</ul>



Context: This Insight follows up on previously highlighted relative value opportunities, using a statistical methodology based on mean-reversion to identify opportunities in paired securities.

Highlights: Currently twelve pair trade opportunities across four markets and five sectors persist.

Why read: Statistical analysis offers a unique perspective on relative value. Gain insights into actionable statistical pair trade opportunities and monitor performance of previously highlighted pairs.


Relative Value Opportunities in Asia-Pac, Pair Trade Roundup (1 Dec)

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech, Aequitas Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>We analyzed the changes in margin trading positions of JPX stocks as of Nov 21st. The aggregated net margin trading position is USD19,632m.</li>
<li>We tabulate league tables for top/bottom net long/short of margin trading by value, net margin buy as multiple of ADT.</li>
<li>We highlight net margin buy/sell changes in SoftBank, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SBI, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Sanrio, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Tokio Marine, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Furukawa Electric.</li>
</ul>


We analyzed the changes in margin trading positions of JPX stocks as of Nov 21st. The aggregated net margin trading position is USD19,632m.
We tabulate league tables for top/bottom net long/short of margin trading by value, net margin buy as multiple of ADT.
We highlight net margin buy/sell changes in SoftBank, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SBI, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Sanrio, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Tokio Marine, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Furukawa Electric.


JPX Margin Trading Weekly (Nov 21st): SoftBank, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SBI

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

Equity Capital Markets

Kioxia Holdings  / Equity Capital Markets

<ul>
<li>Bain aims to raise around US$2bn via selling around 6% of its stake in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kioxia-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29243:1" rel="noopener">Kioxia Holdings (285A JP)</a>. The IPO linked lockup on its shareholding had expired in Jun 2025.</li>
<li>Kioxia is a manufacturer and a global leader in flash memory and solid state drives for smartphones, PCs, enterprise servers and data centers.</li>
<li>In this note, we will talk about deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.</li>
</ul>


Bain aims to raise around US$2bn via selling around 6% of its stake in Kioxia Holdings (285A JP). The IPO linked lockup on its shareholding had expired in Jun 2025.
Kioxia is a manufacturer and a global leader in flash memory and solid state drives for smartphones, PCs, enterprise servers and data centers.
In this note, we will talk about deal dynamics and run the deal through our ECM framework.


Kioxia Placement - US$2bn Deal, Relatively Small, Index Upweight but the Shares Have Runup

Japan

FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. operates a chain of clothing stores, UNIQLO, throughout Japan and in other markets overseas including UK, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, US, France, Singapore and Russia.  The Company designs, manufactures, and retails its own line of casual clothing.

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Fast Retailing (9983 JP)

Muji: A ¥3 Trillion Brand by 2030?

Muji has confounded critics in the last decade by finding new growth domestically despite perceived saturation. Now it wants to increase sales 6...

Michael Causton

TOPIX Index Upweights: The Big April Basket 2021

TOPIX does an annual exercise to adjust Liquidity Factor. The time for trades around that is upon us. This insight looks at the best trade around...

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Relative Value Opportunities in Asia-Pac, Pair Trade Roundup (1 Dec)

Statistical methodology identifies twelve pair trade opportunities across four markets and five sectors, offering unique insights into relative...

Gaudenz Schneider

JPX Margin Trading Weekly (Nov 21st): SoftBank, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SBI

We analyzed JPX margin trading positions report for the past week and highlighted SoftBank (9984 JP), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011 JP), SBI...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Kioxia Placement - US$2bn Deal, Relatively Small, Index Upweight but the Shares Have Runup

Bain aims to raise around US$2bn via selling around 6% of its stake in Kioxia Holdings (285A JP). The IPO linked lockup on its shareholding had...

Sumeet Singh

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Muji: A ¥3 Trillion Brand by 2030?

Muji has confounded critics in the last decade by finding new growth domestically despite perceived saturation. Now it wants to increase sales 6...

Michael Causton

TOPIX Index Upweights: The Big April Basket 2021

TOPIX does an annual exercise to adjust Liquidity Factor. The time for trades around that is upon us. This insight looks at the best trade around...

Janaghan Jeyakumar, CFA

Relative Value Opportunities in Asia-Pac, Pair Trade Roundup (1 Dec)

​Statistical methodology identifies twelve pair trade opportunities across four markets and five sectors, offering unique insights into relative...

Gaudenz Schneider

JPX Margin Trading Weekly (Nov 21st): SoftBank, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SBI

We analyzed JPX margin trading positions report for the past week and highlighted SoftBank (9984 JP), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011 JP), SBI...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Kioxia Placement - US$2bn Deal, Relatively Small, Index Upweight but the Shares Have Runup

Bain aims to raise around US$2bn via selling around 6% of its stake in Kioxia Holdings (285A JP). The IPO linked lockup on its shareholding had...

Sumeet Singh

Statistical methodology identifies twelve pair trade opportunities across four markets and five sectors, offering unique insights into relative...