The Bank of Japan expanded its asset-purchase program three times last year, to 20 trillion yen ($260 billion). The Bank of England has left its asset-buying target at 275 billion pounds ($429 billion).
"We have favored stronger dollar positions given our Fed is essentially on hold and the U.K., Euro-zone and Japanese central banks are in expansive phases," David Kotok, the chief investment officer of Sarasota, Florida-based Cumberland Advisors, which manages about $1.8 billion, said in a telephone interview on Dec. 28. "The U.S. economy seems to be growing at a slow but steady pace and improving, while inflation is not a threat."