July 2018

13Jul

Japan pension funds raise alternatives exposure to record high in 2017 survey finds

Japanese pension funds raised their allocation to alternative investments to a record 17.1% of total assets last year in a bid to boost returns, according to findings from a survey by JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM). At the same time, their allocation to Japanese government bonds (JGBs) declined to an all-time low as the central bank’s prolonged negative interest rate took a toll on return targets. JPMAM polled 123 Japanese defined-benefit pension funds and mutual aid pension funds between March...

July 13, 2018
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January 2018

08Jan

Securing the Future for Old Age in the Asia and Pacific Region: Short-Term and Historical Challenges

By Christian Aspalter (BNU-HKBU United International College, Zhuhai, China) This paper sets out to summarize major conundrums, and some of their solutions, in pension reform policy of the years ahead, with particular reference to the Asia-Pacific Region, and here again, Japan and Thailand. The repercussions for non-action pertaining to the reform and overhaul of public pension systems go far beyond the realm of social policy and economic development. The twin-issue of old-age poverty and fiscal sustainability of public pension systems...

January 8, 2018
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01Jan

Japan. ESG investing for innovation

By Peter David Pedersen I imagine most people know about the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and, possibly, ESG investment. From working as a strategic advisor on corporate sustainability in Japan since the mid-1990s, I feel these two concepts represent major drivers of innovation for businesses across the world. ESG investment is a global movement that picked up speed around 2006, when the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) were launched at the New York Stock Exchange with more than 100 institutional investors as...

January 1, 2018
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December 2017

18Dec

Japanese pension fund to shoulder costs of Bank of Japan’s negative rate

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest pension fund, has decided to shoulder the costs charged on its deposits under the central bank’s negative rate policy, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. GPIF entrusts its deposits to a trust bank arm of Mitsubishi Financial Group (8306.T), which had been wearing the cost of a 0.1 percent charge the BOJ imposes on a portion of excess reserves parked with the central bank. The Nikkei newspaper reported earlier that...

December 18, 2017
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15Dec

World’s Biggest Pension Fund Says AI Will Replace Asset Managers

Hiromichi Mizuno was named chief investment officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, the world’s biggest manager of retirement savings, in 2014. He has since led a push to increase equity holdings and advocated for incorporating ESG, or environmental, social and governance, factors into investing. Question: What are the biggest changes in the investment world you see coming in the next five to 10 years? Mizuno: Adoption of technology, including AI and ESG integration into all asset classes. I believe artificial intelligence...

December 15, 2017
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13Dec

Japan’s public pension fund to adopt performance-based fees

The biggest public pension fund in the world will change the way it pays fees to investment managers in fiscal 2018, with an eye toward creating an incentive for them to boost returns. Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, or GPIF, currently pays fees based on the amount of assets overseen by each managing firm -- applying a predetermined percentage rate to the value of assets under management. Actively managed funds, in which investment managers pick and choose assets to achieve...

December 13, 2017
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November 2017

03Nov

British Insurer Legal & General to Launch Japan Operation-CEO

British’s third-largest insurer, Legal & General (LGEN.L), is launching an operation in Japan to offer company pension scheme insurance and investment management, Chief Executive Nigel Wilson said on Thursday. The move by L&G comes as European peers such as Allianz (ALVG.DE) and Aviva (AV.L) have scaled back from other Asian markets such as Taiwan. The $21 billion (16.09 billion pounds) company, which manages 1 trillion pounds in assets in its fund arm, has sold a number of its European businesses in...

November 3, 2017
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02Nov

World’s Biggest Pension Fund Adds $39 Billion as Stocks Rise

The world’s biggest pension fund posted its fifth-straight quarterly gain, the longest run in more than two years, as global stocks advanced to new highs and weakness in the yen helped boost the value of overseas investments.  Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund returned 3 percent, or 4.5 trillion yen ($39 billion), in the three months ended Sept. 30, increasing assets to a record 156.8 trillion yen, it said in Tokyo on Thursday. Domestic equities added 1.8 trillion yen as the...

November 2, 2017
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October 2017

24Oct

After election win, Abe prioritizes aging Japan

Fresh off a decisive election victory, Japan’s leader pledged Monday to tackle what he called Japan’s two national crises: the military threat from North Korea and an aging and shrinking population. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a news conference that he is committed to protect the Japanese people’s prosperity and peace from any contingency. He also referred to Japanese people who were abducted years ago and are believed to still be held by North Korea. “I will pursue decisive and...

October 24, 2017
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September 2017

29Sep

Japan reappoints giant pension fund GPIF chief Takahashi

Japan’s government on Friday said it has reappointed Norihiro Takahashi as chief of the world’s largest pension fund, Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF). Takahashi, 59, was first appointed as the head of the $1.3 trillion fund in April last year. He is a former executive at Norinchukin Bank, a major Japanese global institutional investor, and has expertise in fixed income management. His new term begins on Oct. 1 and runs through March 2020. In 2014, GPIF made a historic shift by...

September 29, 2017
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