Japan mega-fund GPIF posts $72 billion quarterly return on global equities rally

The world’s largest pension fund, Japan’s Government Investment Pension Fund (GPIF), said on Friday it made an investment gain of 10.3 trillion yen ($72.02 billion) in January-March, ending a four-quarter losing streak.

GPIF gained 5.41% for the quarter, raising its total assets to above 200 trillion yen, it said in its 2022 annual report, which follows the Japanese financial year running from April to March.

Robust gains in domestic and international equity markets from January to March pushed the fund’s annual return into the black to hit 2.95 trillion yen ($20.63 billion), despite losses in the first three quarters of 2022.

The fund is closely watched by global financial markets because of its enormous size.

GPIF’s foreign stock portfolio posted a quarterly gain of 8.19%, while its Japanese stock portfolio gained 7.03%.

Over the same period, the S&P 500 gained 7.03% while Japan’s Nikkei stock average gained 7.46%.

Returns from the GPIF’s Japanese bond portfolio grew 2.12%, while its foreign bond portfolio gained 4.33%.

As of end-March, Japanese bonds accounted for 26.79% of its portfolio and foreign bonds accounted for 24.39%. Foreign equities accounted for 24.32% and domestic equities 24.49%.

Also on Friday, the Japan Science and Technology Agency said its University Endowment Fund posted a 2.2% investment loss, trimming its assets to 9.96 trillion yen ($69.65 billion).

The government-backed endowment was established in March 2022 to promote science and technology research in Japan as part of a growth strategy intended to distribute wealth to the wider public.

($1 = 143.0100 yen)