The world's largest retirement fund should seek to sell ¥25 trillion in Japanese government bonds as soon as possible, said the head of a panel that advised the government on overhauling pension investments.
The Government Pension Investment Fund should start shifting from local debt to other assets now, and the Bank of Japan could be a buyer, Takatoshi Ito said in Tokyo on Thursday. The fund should pare total bond holdings to about 35 percent of assets, he said. GPIF had 55 percent of its ¥128.6 trillion assets in domestic bonds and 11 percent in offshore debt as of Dec. 31.
"Inflation is entering a new stage and large-scale changes are needed for GPIF's portfolio," Ito said. "GPIF should immediately shift from domestic bonds into other assets."