The 2017 ‘Wealth Report: Japan’ continues to expand its work on the Julius Baer Lifestyle Index, detailing the cost of living in luxury in Asia, including Japan. The report focuses on four main elements and respective findings:

First, Japan’s economy is on track to exceed growth expectations for the full year in 2017. In an international environment of intensifying political risks and concerns over valuations across most asset classes, growth and wealth accumulation in Japan are healthy.

Second, the publication highlights the findings of this year’s Julius Baer Lifestyle Index, with a special emphasis on Tokyo. Notably, the lifestyle index is showing a positive and consistently appreciating trend across Asia. Tokyo, which has been an outlier for its persistent deflationary trends and depressed incomes in the past, now shows positive price developments largely in sync with other Asian capital cities. 

In addition, after a close analysis of long-term risks and potentials for real and financial household assets, the ‘Wealth Report: Japan’ argues that investors should prepare for taking advantage of recovering ‘real’ economies, while limiting risks in ‘political’ markets of only supposedly ‘risk free’ government finance.

Last, the report looks at opportunities of asset diversification for Japanese investors, beyond the traditional safe assets of cash and government bonds and amid persistently low interest rates and gradually increasing inflation.

The 2017 ‘Julius Baer Wealth Report: Japan’ is available in English and Japanese.