Japan government begins shake up of pension investments

The shake-up will impact the way Japan's wealthy but extremely conservative public pension funds invest. This group includes the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) - the world's biggest pool of retirement savings with which has JPY112 trillion ($1.1 trillion) in assets under management.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a panel set up by the government will be tasked with submitting reform proposals for public and semi-public pensions by autumn. This is the latest in a series of bold policy changes brought in by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as an attempt to restore the growth to the nation's economy.

This move could also force pension fund to help lift stocks by setting aside more room in their portfolios for equities. The Nikkei Stock Average fell more than 15% in recent sessions following a six-month rally.

GPIF has been criticized in the past for its lackluster investment performance - around 67% of the fund's target portfolio is in domestic bonds, 11% in domestic stocks, 8% in foreign bonds, 9% in foreign stocks and 5% in short-term financial assets.

However, GPIF seems to be leading the way in the push for alternative assets after announcing last November that it is conducting feasibility studies for possible future investments in alternative assets, including private equity.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• North Asia
• Fundraising
• Japan
• Government Pension Investment Fund (Japan)