Japanese equity funds saw a record $1.1bn (€923.3m) of new investment in just one week bringing the total new money attracted by the sector to $4.73bn so far this year. This comes as the country's largest pension fund looks outside its local market with a ¥3.3 trillion (€25.7bn) investment in international equities and bonds.

Investment in Japanese equity funds has already surpassed the $3bn levels of last year, and the $1.1bn in the first week of April was the highest weekly amount since 2001, when EmergingPortfolio.com Fund Research, the fund flow research specialist, first started tracking the market. The firm tracks 196 Japanese equity funds on a weekly basis.