Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest retirement fund, has begun selecting domestic alternative asset funds on its own for the first time, shifting away from relying on external asset managers. The fund will allocate ¥50 billion ($340 million) — with ¥40 billion earmarked for infrastructure such as data centers and ¥10 billion for real estate — according to recently published documents.
While small compared with GPIF’s ¥260 trillion in total assets, the move gives the fund greater oversight of its portfolio and marks a step toward diversifying into higher-yielding assets less tied to stock and bond market swings. Alternatives carry risks such as low liquidity and exposure to property and infrastructure cycles, but they are increasingly popular among global peers. GPIF still caps alternatives at 5% of its portfolio, though current exposure is only 1.6%.
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GPIF’s direct entry into Japanese alternative funds highlights growing demand for yield in real assets. While the sums are small relative to its size, the move could provide a lift to domestic infrastructure and property markets, while signaling that Japan’s institutional investors are catching up with global peers on alternative allocations.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.