Coller's Mizuno joins GPIF investment committee

The hire comes as the fund looks to invest more in alternative assets and reduce its reliance on government bonds.

GPIF said Mizuno will serve a two-year term, effective Friday. He replaces Kimikazu Nomi, CEO of the state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), whose term finished earlier this month. The appointment is significant in that Mizuno is expected to bring extensive overseas investment experience to the eight-member committee, which is mainly made up of economists and academics.

Before joining Coller in 2003, Mizuno held senior roles at Sumitomo Trust & Banking in New York as its head of private equity investment and Japanese corporate finance divisions. Like the other investment committee members - all of whom hold positions elsewhere - Mizuno will continue in his current job and travel to Tokyo for meetings.

Earlier this year, GPIF, which has JPY129 trillion (about $1.2 trillion) in assets, underwent an extensive overhaul that saw it shrink its investment committee membership from 10 to eight and replace several members.

The move came after a government-appointed panel issued a report recommending Japan's pension funds increase their commitments to alternative assets. The report said the country's pension funds - which collectively hold JPY200 trillion in assets - should review domestic bond holdings and consider investing more in overseas assets.

GPIF posted an 8.64% rate of return for 2013, compared to 10.23% in 2012 and 2.32% in 2011. As of the end of March, 53.43% of its assets were held in domestic bonds, 15.88% in domestic equities, 10.66% in foreign bonds, 15.03% in foreign equities and 5% in short-term assets.

GPIF wants to boost its returns as part of government efforts to support an ageing population. The fund has been paying out more in benefits than it has received in contributions since 2009.

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