Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund reported a 2.7% gain for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, lifting the value of the Tokyo-based fund's portfolio to a record ¥191.6 trillion ($1.74 trillion).
The pension fund's foreign stock holdings were the main driver of GPIF's roughly ¥5 trillion in quarterly gains, with COVID-19 vaccination progress boosting expectations of a return to economic normality, GPIF President Masataka Miyazono, said Friday in a statement.
But domestic stocks edged lower amid signs pandemic infections were rising in Japan, he said.
Helped further by the yen's weakening against other major currencies over the quarter, the 25.4% of GPIF's portfolio in foreign equities delivered an investment gain of just less than ¥4 trillion yen, while its 24.7% allocation to foreign bonds yielded ¥887.3 billion.
The roughly 50% of GPIF's portfolios allocated to domestic stocks and bonds contributed just more than ¥100 billion in gains, with the pension fund's 25.4% weighting in Japanese bonds yielding returns of ¥208.9 billion and its 24.5% allocation to domestic stocks registering a decline of ¥105.1 billion.
The pension fund's allocations to private market assets — infrastructure, property and private equity — edged up 6 basis points to 0.76% of the portfolio, or roughly ¥1.5 trillion yen.
