BlackRock fund turns to Japan and cash

TOKYO: BlackRock Inc’s Dan Chamby, who helps manage a US$90bil global strategy at the world’s biggest money manager, said his fund is overweight Japan and has parked one-fifth of its assets in cash amid worldwide volatility and rising uncertainty in China.

The fund has a 12% allocation to Japan compared with 4.5% for its reference benchmark, which is a composite of four indexes, said Chamby, managing director and a portfolio manager of the BlackRock Global Allocation Fund. The fund has 20% of its assets in cash, higher than the 14% average over its 26-year history, he said.