Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund plans to expand its choice of asset managers, bringing in newer companies as part of a push into active management.

“We look forward to discovering superior asset management companies by opening our door wider,” GPIF President Masataka Miyazono told reporters Friday.

The move comes as GPIF, one of the world’s biggest institutional investors, steps up its pursuit of market-beating returns.

The fund had about 220 trillion yen ($1.48 trillion) in assets under management at the end of September. Japanese equities accounted for roughly one-quarter of the portfolio.

GPIF last month scrapped certain criteria used in selecting asset managers, including minimum levels for pension assets under management and the number of years working with financial products.

GPIF has improved its quantitative evaluation process, which has made it easier to judge the strength of fund managers, Miyazono said.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants to transform Japan into a wealth management powerhouse, and his government is urging pension funds to entrust some of their money to up-and-coming asset managers.

But Miyazono said the shift by GPIF should not be interpreted as an alignment with Tokyo’s policy goals.

As it seeks a more active stance, the GPIF will review its composition of asset managers to avoid overemphasizing particular sectors or trends. It will analyze vast amounts of data to help pick managers that can generate stable high returns. The fund also plans to expand its team of data science experts.

Since last year, GPIF has been selecting additional active asset managers for Japanese equities and soon will announce the picks. The fund also will select fixed-income managers using data-based evaluations.

On the rally in Japanese stocks this year, Miyazono said GPIF will “closely monitor movements from a long-term investment perspective.” Miyazono attributed the rally to various factors, including supply and demand, the state of the Japanese economy, corporate efforts and the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s market reforms.

GPIF regularly assesses its asset mix. Despite rising domestic bond yields and other changes in the market environment, “there is no need for a review at this stage,” Miyazono said.

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