Japan

Japan's economy grew by a better than expected 1.1% in the final quarter of last year, although it contracted by over 5% during the whole of 2009.

Legal & General Investment Management plans to merge its £34m Japanese trust into its tracker equivalent, with manager Andrew Nagele and team set to leave the group.

Skandia and Henderson New Star are among a number of multi-asset groups to start bumping up their weightings to Japan, as they believe the beleaguered country could see a reversal in its fortunes this year.

SLI head of global strategy Andrew Milligan delves into the 2010 maze of inflation, interest rates and political influences.

Although most developed and developing economies came out of recession during the course of last year, most recoveries are expected to be slow and fragile in nature.

Deflation in Japan has accelerated at its fastest pace since 1970, threatening the recovery of the world's second largest economy.

The big issues that long term investors must address when looking for investments

Japan has kept interest rates on hold at 0.1% as the world's second largest economy tries to overcome deflation.

Daiwa Capital Markets is bolstering its Asian derivatives business, including the development of ETFs as part of the firm's growing equity finance department.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) is spending to scoop up some of the world's least popular assets.