State Street analyst Masahiko Loo said Japan’s finance minister Katayama’s remark that pension funds may boost allocations to financial assets would be supportive for Japanese government bonds and the yen. Any asset-allocation shift is likely to be gradual; historically pension funds deviate only modestly from domestic bond targets, implying limited but meaningful scope to raise domestic bond exposure. Loo said the comment also signals policy intent amid market doubts over how much firepower the

State Street analyst Masahiko Loo said Japan’s finance minister Katayama’s remark that pension funds may boost allocations to financial assets would be supportive for Japanese government bonds and the yen. Any asset-allocation shift is likely to be gradual; historically pension funds deviate only modestly from domestic bond targets, implying limited but meaningful scope to raise domestic bond exposure. Loo said the comment also signals policy intent amid market doubts over how much firepower the finance ministry has for FX intervention. With over $1 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves, intervention remains an option, but keeping domestic institutional capital at home would be a more durable structural support for the yen; State Street remains constructive on JGBs and the yen over the medium-to-long term.