EM fund managers of 2010: the Japanese | beyondbrics | News and views on emerging markets from the Financial Times – FT.com

The FT is publishing rankings of emerging market fundsprepared by Lipper, the funds research company. Here is the first profile of one of the top performing funds.

What do Japanese bond fund managers know that their competitors around the globe do not? According to rankings prepared for the FT and beyondbrics by Lipper, the funds research company, Japan-based funds have performed spectacularly in 2010 among emerging market bond funds.

According to Lipper, Japan-based funds account for seven of the top emerging market bond funds, and seven of the big funds with $500m and more under management. The returns, in US dollar terms, for the year up to December 20 ranged from 18.1 per cent to 28.6 per cent. So what’s their secret? The FT’s Lindsay Whipp tried to find out.