Government Pension Investment Fund, Tokyo, posted a 22.7% annual return for its financial year ended March 31, bringing assets to ¥245.98 trillion ($1.63 trillion), the fund said on July 5.
The return marks record asset growth for GPIF of ¥45.42 trillion, followed closely by its fiscal 2020 result that saw a 25.2% return, which added ¥37.8 trillion to the fund’s assets. GPIF is the world's largest pension fund.
GPIF’s equity portfolio led the fund’s returns, with domestic equities gaining 41.4% and foreign equities at 40%. Foreign bonds also had a positive return at 15.8%, while domestic bonds had a -2% return.
The fund’s portfolio was evenly distributed across all four asset classes. Domestic equities comprised 24.33% of the portfolio, foreign equities 24.86%, foreign bonds 23.86%, and domestic bonds 26.95%.
GPIF also had 1.46% of its portfolio invested in alternatives. The time-weighted investment rate of return on private equity was 21.5% in Japanese yen terms. The return on infrastructure and real estate was 6.5%, which included foreign exchange adjustment factors that amounted to -7.86%.
The 2023 performance marks a sharp recovery from fiscal 2022, which had a 1.5% return that brought the fund to ¥200.13 trillion in assets.
During the year, Chief Investment Officer Eiji Ueda changed the fund's active foreign equity manager line-up, broadening its allocations across an expanded roster of managers.
