June 2024
03Jun

Discussions on Japan pension reform must respond to anxiety about future

Deliberations on Japan's pension reform in 2025 are in full swing at a council of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The future vision of the country's public pensions that support people's lives in their old age is being called into question. The public pension system consists of a two-tier structure -- the national pension and employees' pension, with the latter covering company workers and others. The national pension is the basic portion that is common to all people,...

June 3, 2024
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May 2024
20May

Why half of Japan’s cities are at risk of disappearing in 100 years

With contributions from around 370 celebrities, intellectuals and cultural figures of the time, the April 1920 edition of the now defunct Nihon Oyobi Nihonjin (Japan and the Japanese) magazine ran a special feature on what the country would look like in 100 years. Sakio Tsurumi, then-director of the government's Forestry Bureau, predicted that the nation’s population would grow nearly five-fold to around 260 million by 2020, approximately double what it actually is now. Professor Riichiro Hoashi of Waseda University expected...

May 20, 2024
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March 2024
20Mar

World’s largest pension fund explores bitcoin as an investment

Japan's government pension fund on Tuesday said it is requesting information on "illiquidity assets" such as bitcoin, as part of research into potential new investments. The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan, the world's largest pension fund by assets under management on several different rankings, said it is looking for "basic information" on illiquid assets other than those in which it already invests. GPIF said it currently puts funds in domestic and foreign bonds and stocks, real estate, infrastructure and private equity....

March 20, 2024
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15Mar

Japan union group announces biggest wage hikes in 33 years, presaging shift at central bank

Japan's biggest companies agreed to raise wages by 5.28% for 2024, the heftiest pay hikes in 33 years, the country's largest union group said on Friday, reinforcing views that the county's central bank will soon shift away from a decade-long stimulus programme. The much-stronger-than-expected increase comes as the Bank of Japan looks close to ending eight years of negative interest rate policy. BOJ officials have stressed the timing of a pivot would depend on the outcome of this year's annual...

March 15, 2024
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12Mar

Japan’s GPIF under spotlight following plans to expand manager pool

In a pivotal moment for Japan’s financial landscape, plans by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)  to widen its scope of asset managers have reverberated through domestic markets. With GPIF president Masataka Miyazono’s announcement at the forefront, the world’s largest pension fund embarks on a strategic journey, challenging traditional selection criteria and signaling a shift in investment strategy as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aims to elevate the standard of the country’s asset owners. Comments by Miyazono, the president of the...

March 12, 2024
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February 2024
07Feb

Japanese Pension Giant Rebounds in Fiscal Q3

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund rebounded in the third quarter of fiscal 2023, returning 2.62%, after reporting a slight loss the previous quarter, to raise its total asset value to 224.7 trillion yen ($1.51 trillion). For the first three quarters of the fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, the pension giant’s investment portfolio has returned 12%. The investment portfolio returned a total of 5.73 trillion yen for the quarter and 10.45 trillion yen during...

February 7, 2024
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January 2024
22Jan

Japan pension giant GPIF opens door to more asset managers

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund plans to expand its choice of asset managers, bringing in newer companies as part of a push into active management. "We look forward to discovering superior asset management companies by opening our door wider," GPIF President Masataka Miyazono told reporters Friday. The move comes as GPIF, one of the world's biggest institutional investors, steps up its pursuit of market-beating returns. The fund had about 220 trillion yen ($1.48 trillion) in assets under management at the end of...

January 22, 2024
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04Jan

Japan retirement trends: job-seeking seniors double in 10 years

The number of people 65 and older looking for work in Japan has more than doubled over the past decade, government employment center data shows, creating the challenge of matching them with the right jobs in a shrinking labor pool. A Hello Work employment center in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district has a counter just for senior citizens. Some need work to supplement their income, but others just want to stay active. "I want to work until I'm 70," said a 66-year-old man who was there to fill out paperwork...

January 4, 2024
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December 2023
21Dec

How Japan’s aging population is shaping the future of nursing care

How will the aging population impact the provision and sustainability of care? We put the question to Dr Yukari Nakano, Executive Officer at the Japanese Nursing Association People are living longer than ever before, and though this is a positive sign of improvements to physical and social surroundings, many still spend their twilight years in poor health. Population aging also equates to a greater demand for long-term care and an expanded healthcare workforce capable of providing the specialized care many...

December 21, 2023
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08Dec

Japan’s SMBC pension fund explores boosting exposures to alternatives

Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Pension Fund, managing assets worth 1 trillion yen ($6.6 billion), is poised to increase investments in illiquid alternatives, including infrastructure private equity and debt aimed at maximizing returns. Anticipating a shift in domestic interest rates with the expected exit of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) from its ultra-easy monetary policy, the pension fund is considering reassessing its longstanding strategy of investing Japanese government bonds (JGBs), which has comprised only about 1 per cent of...

December 8, 2023
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