In plain terms — Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund
Shares currently cost about 12.5% less than the value of the assets behind them (a discount).
It pays regular distributions worth about 9.5% a year of the share price (8.3% of the assets). That is a payout rate, not a return: part of it may be capital being handed back.
Because the shares trade below the value of their assets, each dollar of reinvested distributions buys about $1.14 of assets — a ReinvestCapture™ rate of 10.9%, more than the payout rate itself. That is buying power, not a return.
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Price and NAV, past year
Snapshot
Valuation vs. history
| Window | Average prem/disc | Std. dev. | Z-score | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | — | — | — | 0 |
| 6 months | — | — | — | 0 |
| 1 year | — | — | — | 0 |
| 3 years | — | — | — | — |
| 5 years | — | — | — | — |
Current contemporaneous premium/discount — (close Oct 14, 2026 vs NAV Feb 28, 2026). 1-year range — to —. A negative Z-score means a wider discount than the window average — not that the fund is undervalued.
Performance
| Series | 1M | 3M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y (ann.) | 5Y (ann.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market price return | -1.77% | +4.72% | +10.11% | +20.32% | +20.49% | +6.54% |
| Market price total return | -1.00% | +7.23% | +18.10% | +32.36% | +28.68% | +12.66% |
| NAV return | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| NAV total return | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Through Oct 14, 2026. Total return reinvests distributions at the series value on the ex-date. Cumulative ≤ 1 year, annualised beyond.
About the fund
The Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc. (JOF) is a closed-end equity mutual fund based in the United States. Formed on March 22, 1990, and previously known as Japan OTC Equity Fund, Inc., it was originally launched by Nomura Asset Management U.S.A. Inc. and is now managed by Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd. This fund primarily allocates capital to small-capitalization companies operating across various sectors within Japan's public equity markets. Its investments target securities traded on major Japanese exchanges such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, in addition to growth-oriented platforms like JASDAQ, Mothers, Hercules, and Centrex. The fund's performance is measured against the Russell/Nomura Small Cap Index.
CEF Explorer research page for Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund Inc. Figures carry their own dates and sources; a discount to NAV does not guarantee convergence or any return. This is not investment advice.