Original title: The world's largest pension fund has assets of 1.75 trillion US dollars, breaking records

The Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) achieved investment growth for the fifth consecutive quarter, as returns on overseas assets helped make up for losses in the Japanese domestic stock market.

The world's largest pension fund announced on Friday that it had risen 2.7% as of June 2021, with assets under management increasing by 4.98 trillion yen (US$45.4 billion) to a record 191.6 trillion yen. Overseas stocks were the best performing investments, with a return of 8.6%; while Japanese domestic stocks had a return of 0.3%. The yield on foreign bonds rose 1.9%, and the yield on Japanese bonds rose 0.5%.

Overseas stocks have been GPIF's best performing asset since April last year, when the fund began to reduce its dependence on Japanese government bonds and focus on stocks and foreign debt.In July, GPIF announced returns for the fiscal year ending March, a record high.

GPIF President Masataka Miyazono said in a statement:

“Global stock markets rebounded in the second quarter due to the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, economic recovery, and the continued implementation of loose monetary policies by major countries. Meanwhile, due to concerns about the resurgence of the virus, the Japanese domestic stock market declined.”

Morgan StanleyThe Capital International Global Stock Market Index rose 7.3% last quarter, and the yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds fell 27 basis points to 1.468%; while the yield on Japanese treasury bonds was almost unchanged at 0.05%. The exchange rate of the dollar against the yen rose 0.4% this quarter. Since the end of June, the Eastern Stock Index has fallen 0.7%.

Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager of Tokyo Shinkin Asset Management, said:

“Due to the decline in the index, GPIF is likely to buy Japanese stocks in the next quarter. The fundamentals of the Japanese stock market are also good.”