The health and welfare ministry has come up with a plan to phase out the type of corporate pension fund known as kosei nenkin kikin over a period of 10 years. The proposal follows AIJ Investment Advisor Co.'s reported loss earlier this year of most of the ¥145.8 billion in pension assets under its management as a result of bad investments.
Kosei nenkin kikin manages private corporate pension assets as well as part of the pension premiums that must be paid into the nation's kosei nenkin pension program, which is a pension plan for corporate workers.
Because changing times have made the kosei nenkin kikin obsolete, the ministry's proposal is a step in the right direction. But it contains problems that must be resolved if it is implemented.