Japan will press the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s
largest pension fund, to lift allocations to unlisted equities, real estate and
other alternatives. Finance Minister Kato said the government aims to steer the
about $1.8 trillion GPIF and other national pension funds to significantly
increase domestic asset holdings to support the weak yen; his comments on Friday
pushed the yen higher and boosted Japanese government bond prices. Alternatives
made up 1.7% of GPIF assets in March, well below the 5% cap; a government panel
will soon issue a report recommending raising the share toward 5% to broaden
asset management scope and reduce overall portfolio risk.
