Japan's GPIF starts recruiting managers for alternative assets

[April 11, 2017]  By Thomas Wilson

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) on Tuesday began recruiting asset managers for investments in private equity, infrastructure and real estate, as the world's largest pension fund's embrace of riskier assets gathers pace.

The sign of Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is seen after a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, April 1, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

In its first recruitment of outside managers for investments in so-called alternative assets, GPIF is looking to hire an unspecified number of institutional investors to oversee bets in Japan and other developed countries.

The fund in 2014 reduced its holdings of low-yielding domestic government bonds and invested more in stocks. The landmark move followed a government push to spur higher returns on pension investments and jolt Japan out of deflation.

The scale of investment in the three asset classes would not be decided until after the fund has assessed candidates' investment capacities, a GPIF spokesman said. Initial checks on applications are set to begin on June 1.

As with GPIF's current investments in stocks and bonds, the managers for alternative assets will oversee "fund of funds" products in accounts created especially for GPIF, according to an advertisement on the fund's website.

GPIF managed 144.8 trillion yen ($1.31 trillion) worth of assets as of December, and last month posted a third-quarter gain of $92 billion on the back of a rally in the Japanese stock market.

GPIF's upper limit on alternative investments was set at 5 percent of its total pension reserve fund, but as of the end of December it stood at 0.07 percent.

(Reporting by Thomas Wilson; Editing by Randy Fabi)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.