Japan

JAPAN/US - New York-based hedge fund AIFAM aims to boost the assets in its catastrophe bond fund by five times to $150m over the next year with Japanese pension money.

JAPAN - Mizuho Global Alternative Investments aims to raise ¥100bn ($1.2bn) in three years after starting this month to help Japanese pensions invest in hedge funds.

JAPAN - First State Investments has opened an office in Japan and hired a new director of institutional business to help expand its reach in the institutional and pension fund market.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched a Japanese equity fund targeted at institutional investors.

Investors are betting on Japanese corporates. In a web debate sponsored by Nomura Asset Management, Global Pensions editor Raquel Pichardo-Allison speaks to Nomura investment specialist Peter Jenkins, Mercer principal Piers Bertlin and Hewitt Associates...

JAPAN - Japan's public pension fund, the world's largest, will increase asset sales by more than five times to about ¥4trn ($48bn) this fiscal year as payouts rise with the nation's population ageing.

JAPAN - Japanese pension funds are starting to invest in toll roads, ports and pipelines for the first time, seeking higher returns to meet the retirement needs of the world's fastest-aging population.

JAPAN - Japan's $1.4trn Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) returned -2.94% in the quarter ended June 30, equating to a loss of $42bn in assets.

JAPAN/UK - Japanese fund house Chuo Mitsui and UK-based Standard Life Investments have partnered to cross-manage funds worth US$2.2bn.

JAPAN - Fund managers have seen assets under management in mandates from Japanese pension schemes jump by 20.2% in the year to March 31.