July 2022

Japan. World’s Top Pension Fund Writes Off Russia Stocks, Sells Bonds and Closes Year With Gains

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund said Friday that it’s been selling Russian assets since March following the invasion of Ukraine, marking down some values to almost zero in the process. The world’s biggest pension fund has substantially reduced holdings of Russian bonds, which can still be traded over-the-counter. The fund has been largely stuck with the country’s stocks, as foreign investors face trading restrictions, Chief Investment Officer Eiji Ueda said in the GPIF annual report. The Government Pension Investment Fund lost...

June 2022

Japanese corporate pension funds: risks growing for Asia’s emerging markets

Relying on high-growth markets is not showing the results it once did - and the current situation is posing more questions than answers, says one corporate pension fund manager. Corporate pension funds in Japan are struggling to identify the best allocation strategies as the knock-on from distruptive events globally is being felt in Asia's emerging markets, according to leading pension funds. With China’s economy challenged by lockdowns and general repercussions from the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as regulatory interventions that have...

April 2022

Homeless Population Aging in Japan

The proportion of homeless people aged 70 or over in the total homeless population in Japan surged to 34.4 pct in 2021 from 19.7 pct in 2016, a welfare ministry survey has found. The survey on people without housing, held about every five years, also showed that the average age of homeless people rose by 2.1 years to 63.6 years. In the survey, conducted in November 2021, homeless people in Tokyo's 23 special wards, ordinance-designated major cities and other cities were...

Japan eyes expansion of workers’ insurance scheme

The Japanese government is reportedly discussing plans to expand the coverage of its employee pensions and health insurance programs to all workers in the country. The proposal will be initially handled by a government panel of experts on Japan’s social security system for all generations, The Japan Times reported. In June, Tokyo plans to decide on the direction for the insurance system covering all workers and have it reflected in its honebuto, or basic economic and fiscal policy guidelines. This follows the...

Japan’s population down 640,000 in 2021, biggest drop on record

Japan's population totaled 125,502,000 as of Oct. 1, down 644,000 from a year earlier, marking the biggest decline on record, according to government data released Friday. The fall was attributed to stricter border restrictions propelled by the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. The tally includes foreign nationals. Tokyo's population shrank for the first time in 26 years. All of Japan's 47 prefectures except Okinawa posted a fall in the number of residents in the year to...

GPIF asigna $ 6.2 mil millones al nuevo índice de acciones ESG Japan

GPIF allocates $6.2 billion to new ESG Japan equity index

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund allocated ¥760 billion ($6.2 billion) to a new ESG index, the FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative index, GPIF President Masataka Miyazono said Wednesday. Read also AIG shifting $150 billion to BlackRock The Tokyo-based pension fund, the world's largest with ¥199.3 trillion in assets, said in a news release that FTSE Russell's ESG ratings as well as evaluations of company management's "attitude toward (the) risks and opportunities of climate change" will be considered when selecting constituents for...

February 2022

Pension Systems and Sustainability: Japan

By United Nations With 297 trillion yen ($2,854 billion) in assets, the Japanese pension system is the third largest in the world.1 Between public and private providers, some 54% of assets are managed by PRI asset owner signatories, a higher proportion than in Australia, the US and the UK. This report builds on ideas set out in the PRI briefing ‘Sustainable Finance Policy in Japan’, published in October 2020, providing an overview of the Japanese system and its key sustainability...

Japan. World’s Top Pension Fund GPIF to Reassess Stock-Lending Halt

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund is set to review the impact of its decision more than two years ago to stop lending shares, and intends to put the controversial move up for debate. The world’s biggest pension fund, which manages nearly 200 trillion yen ($1.7 trillion) in assets, should have enough data to determine what impact the move has had on its investments, GPIF President Masataka Miyazono told Bloomberg News in an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday. Read more @Bloomberg 563 views

GPIF, World’s Top Pension, Has Record Seventh Quarterly Gain

The world’s largest pension fund posted a record seventh straight quarter of gains in the three months ended December, as stocks outside Japan helped the fund boost returns. Read also U.S. public pension funds may turn to more ‘aggressive’ investment, report says Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund gained 2.8% in the quarter, with assets climbing to a record 199.3 trillion yen ($1.73 trillion), the fund said in Tokyo. Read also China rolling out perks to encourage couples to have 3rd child amid...

January 2022

Japan’s Sustainable Bond Market Helps Fund Aging Population

Japan is using the corporate bond market to tackle the challenge of having the world’s oldest population. Daiwa Securities Living Investment Corp. became the latest issuer to tap the market for social debt on Tuesday with the sale of a 10-year bond to refinance investments in facilities for the elderly at a coupon of 0.46%. Although the amount raised was only 2 billion yen ($17.5 million), the bond follows offers last year from Daiwa House Reit Investment Corp., United Urban Investment...