Japan’s $1.38 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) returned 3%, or 4.45 trillion yen ($39 billion), in the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30.
The quarterly returns were up from the 1.84%, or 2.37 trillion yen, the fund returned during the same quarter last year, but down from the 3.54%, or 5.12 trillion yen, reported during the first quarter of the year. From fiscal 2001 to the second quarter of fiscal 2017, the fund had annualized returns of 3.2% for income of 62.93 trillion yen, or $552.62 billion.
Foreign equities were the top performer for the fund, returning 5.55%, just below the benchmark of 5.58%, but up from 5.48% the previous quarter. Domestic equities gained 4.79%, edging out the benchmark of 4.74%. Foreign bonds returned 2.49%, just above the benchmark of 2.46%, while domestic bonds were up 0.16%, edging out the benchmark of 0.15%.
As of the end of September, the asset allocation of the fund was 28.5% in domestic bonds, 24.35% in domestic equities, 24.03% in foreign equities, 14.02% in foreign bonds, and 9.10% in short-term assets. This compares to an asset allocation at the end of the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 that had 30.48% in domestic bonds, 24.41% in domestic equities, 23.91% in foreign equities, 13.53% in foreign bonds, and 7.67% in short-term assets.
