August 2017

01Aug

Japan’s ageing society prompts redefinition of the term ‘elderly’

An early advocate of healthy living to stave off ageing-related illnesses, Shigeaki Hinohara, a Japanese doctor, saw patients until just months before bidding farewell to this world at the age of 105, last month. In 1954, Hinohara introduced comprehensive annual physical tests, part of the preventive medical system said to contribute to Japanese people's longevity. A fast-ageing society, Japan has the highest percentage of senior citizens in the world－more than a quarter of its population is aged 65 or above. Japan...

August 1, 2017
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July 2017

21Jul

Japan’s defined-benefit pension funds boost exposure to alternatives

Japan’s defined-benefit (DB) pension funds are rebalancing their portfolios to raise exposure to alternatives and reduce the weighting of domestic bonds in the current negative interest rate environment, according to a survey by JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM). The domestic bond holdings of Japanese DB pension funds fell to an eight-year low of 27.9% in the 2016 fiscal year ended March 31, 2017, from 29.8% in the previous year, JPMAM says in a July 19 statement on the survey findings. Meanwhile,...

July 21, 2017
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07Jul

Japan. World’s Biggest Pension Fund Has Best Performance in 2 Years

The world’s biggest pension fund posted its best annual gain in two years, as Japanese and overseas stocks rose while government bonds slid. The Government Pension Investment Fund returned 5.9 percent, or 7.9 trillion yen ($70 billion), in the year ended March 31, increasing assets to a record 144.9 trillion yen, it said in Tokyo on Friday. That’s the biggest advance since the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, when it had its best annual performance on record. Domestic equities...

July 7, 2017
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03Jul

Japan’s GPIF says allocated 1 trillion yen to ethical investments

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world's largest pension fund, said on Monday it has allocated 1 trillion yen ($8.9 billion) of funds to socially responsible investments. That represents about 3 percent of its Japanese stocks portfolio and, in the medium term, the fund could increase its investment in companies that have good ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices, the fund said. Market players said the allocation change by the mammoth fund with total assets of 144 trillion yen ($1.3...

July 3, 2017
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June 2017

27Jun

Japan. One Pension Fund Manager Is Going Against the Grain

In the $870 billion world of Japan Inc. employee pension funds, he’s known as the unusual idealist who’s long danced to his own tune. Hiroichi Yagi filled the Secom Corporate Pension Fund with stocks when his peers hid in bonds, considering it his duty to support Japanese equities. He embraced environmental, social and governance investing as a way to reduce volatility. And he signed Japan’s stewardship code for institutional investors right at the start, making Secom the only corporate pension...

June 27, 2017
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02Jun

Japan’s GPIF Pension Fund Sues Toshiba Auditor Over Investment Losses

Japan's giant Government Investment Pension Fund (GPIF) has sued the local affiliate of global accounting firm Ernst & Young, claiming $31 million for losses on investments in Toshiba Corp stemming from the conglomerate's accounting scandal in 2015. Toshiba has been on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's supervision list since mid-March as it has failed to clear up concerns about its internal controls after the $1.3 billion accounting scandal. That scandal preceded the crisis now engulfing Toshiba over billions of dollars in...

June 2, 2017
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April 2017

13Apr

Yield-seeking Japanese investors seen helping to fund global real assets

Traditionally conservative Japanese investors are eyeing higher-yielding investments such as global infrastructure and real estate after a prolonged period of low economic growth and yields, according to analysis from Australia-based AMP Capital. With AUM of about 500 trillion yen (US$4.4 trillion), the Japanese institutional investment market “represents a substantial source of capital for investment into real assets across the globe”, the company says in a statement on Tuesday (April 11). According to Toshiaki Yamashita, Japan-based managing director of AMP Capital, Japanese...

April 13, 2017
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12Apr

Japan stems rate of population decline, but growing pension burden looms

Japan’s population will fall nearly a third by 2065, with almost 40 per cent aged 65 or older and the working population labouring under a tougher pension burden, although the pace of population decline has slowed slightly, a government agency said yesterday. Solutions to Japan’s population slide have eluded policymakers for decades, putting finances under growing pressure as demand for pensions surges. In 2015, the government established a new Cabinet minister with the task of keeping the population from slipping below...

April 12, 2017
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04Apr

Ultralow rate driving Japan’s public pension fund out of JGBs

The Bank of Japan's zero interest rate policy is forcing Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund to take on more risk via an increased portfolio allocation to stocks, as near-zero yields have made Japanese government bonds nonviable as core holdings. The GPIF aims to secure returns equivalent to the rate of wage growth plus 1.7 percentage points in order to make good on payouts. The fund overhauled its base asset allocation policy in October 2014 amid the reflation push by the...

April 4, 2017
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