The world’s biggest pension fund posted a gain for a third consecutive quarter, with Japanese stocks providing the best return among assets amid a global shift to value shares in September.

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund returned 1.1%, or 1.8 trillion yen ($17 billion), in the quarter ended Sept. 30, with assets totaling 161.8 trillion yen, it said Friday in Tokyo. Domestic stocks were the fund’s best performing investment, gaining 3.3%, while foreign equities added 0.1%. The return was 1.2% for overseas bonds and 0.3% for Japanese debt.

The GPIF’s results were the first since the fund announced last month that it would give itself leeway to buy more of bonds from outside its home market by considering currency-hedged foreign bonds as part of its domestic debt portfolio. The move gives the fund more options as domestic yields remain low, GPIF President Norihiro Takahashi said in an interview in Tokyo on Oct. 9.

The GPIF’s Takahashi said in a statement Friday that the fund decided to not disclose the allocation breakdown, amounts and investment income for each asset class this fiscal year as it is reviewing the composition of its basic portfolio. It was the first time the details were not released for quarterly results, the fund confirmed.

“Back when the GPIF last set the portfolio, markets were watching the GPIF like a hawk about what asset class they might be tweaking,” said Hiroshi Matsumoto, head of Japan investment at Pictet Asset Management Ltd. “The GPIF knows it has significant influence, so it may be a move to try to minimize the market impact.”

The GPIF has a general target to keep 25% of its basic portfolio in domestic stocks and 25% in overseas shares. The permissible range of deviation is 9% for local equities and 8% for stocks abroad. The target is 35% for domestic bonds and 15% for foreign debt, with a permissible deviation of 10% and 4%, respectively.

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