The value of Japanese investment trust funds targeting retail investors in August fell the most since May 2010 as declines in global equities and a soaring yen battered their performance,an industry body said on Tuesday. * Mutual fund value falls 4.6 pct to $803 bln in Aug * Yen,stock falls hurt performance,but sees net inflows * Japan retail fund market size bigger than Netherlands' GDP Still,retail investors continued to pour money into investment trusts,or mutual funds known as toushin,with the market seeing net inflows for a fifth consecutive month. In fact,with the exception of March,when retail investors sold to cash in after the earthquake,Japanese investors have been net buyers of toushin since May 2009. The toushin market saw net inflows of 138.6 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in August,down sharply from 523.9 billion yen a month earlier,the Investment Trusts Association of Japan said. The overall value of toushin assets fell for the fourth straight month in August to 61.9 trillion yen ($804 billion),down 4.6 percent or 3.01 trillion yen from the previous month,marking the biggest fall since May 2010. The ongoing debt crisis in Europe and the sovereign credit downgrade in the United States have hit global financial markets and hurt the toushin market,said Fumio Inui,vice president of the association,said at a briefing. Japan's broader Topix Index fell 8.4 percent and the yen appreciated about 1.5 percent against the dollar in August. However,retail investors' appetite towards investing in toushin has not changed,Inui said. Basically,we are seeing constant inflows. Retail investors' demand for investing (in toushin) remains strong,with interest staying strong in buying dividend-oriented products. Japan's mutual fund market is the second largest in Asia-Pacific after Australia. Market participants closely watch the Japanese market due to its size,which is larger than the world's 16th-biggest economy,the Netherlands.
