Japan

JAPAN - Japan's public pension fund sold more government bonds than it bought for the first time in nine years, underscoring concern that an aging population will make domestic investors less able to finance state borrowings.

It's no surprise some investors may harbour reservations about Japanese equities given their history for dire returns, but consultants and asset managers at a recent GP roundtable, sponsored by Nomura Asset Management, said the market is primed for a...

Japan - Japan's $1.35trn public pension fund could split its asset management in two, creating separate pools of safe assets and those offering higher returns, a government panel has said.

JAPAN - Japanese pension funds plan to increase stock and bond investments in emerging markets to diversify their portfolios and boost returns, according to a survey by JPMorgan Chase's asset management business.

JAPAN - Japan's public pension fund, the world's largest, plans to cut the number of money-management firms it uses to simplify operations and adopt new benchmark indexes to reduce market impact and lower trading costs.

JAPAN - Religare Enterprises hired a team from KBC Financial Products to tackle the Japanese asset management market.

JAPAN - A high allocation to domestic bonds held back returns at Japan's public pension fund during the last three months of 2009.

GLOBAL - Global pension assets totalled US$29.5trn at year end 2009, up 14% from the previous year, according to a report by the International Financial Services London.

JAPAN - Japanese pension funds will decrease their home equity bias in light of weak home-country equity returns, a consultant predicted.

Peter Jenkins of Nomura Asset Management looks at the long-term potential for gains in Japanese equities