Three things mattered in Japan this week, and only one of them made the headlines most global investors read. Underneath all three runs the same question: is Japan building a market that rewards companies for doing the hard things, from capital discipline to decarbonisation' Here is how I see it. On 7 October, Japan Exchange Group announced the biggest reshuffle of the Topix in its history. 683 companies are earmarked for gradual removal under tougher inclusion rules based on tradable market value and liquidity. With 35 newcomers added, the number of companies meeting the criteria falls from 1,636 at the end of September to 986, a cut of about 40%. The removals will be phased in from late October through July 2028, and companies that qualify again at the October 2027 review can stop the process. Why this matters more than it sounds: Daiwa estimates around '166 trillion of passive money tracks the Topix. Being in the index has, for decades, been close to automatic for any former...
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