For Chikafumi Hodo's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
With combined assets equivalent to $3.6 trillion, and one-quarter of this in foreign securities, even minor shifts in Japanese insurer allocations can impact markets.
Constrained by stricter legal restraints, the world's top pension fund has largely been quiet on impact investing since appointing a new chief investment officer in April 2020.
The GPIF’s decision will also be crucial for other Japanese public and private pension funds which have been mulling opportunities to invest in Chinese government debt.
A fire at a semiconductor factory in Japan, cold weather in North America and ongoing competition for chips are all hitting the global auto industry at the same time.
The Pension Fund Association for Local Government Officials, known as Chikyoren, has increased its exposure to environment, social and governance themes to about ¥820 billion ($7.8 billion).
Waning demand from key buyers plus less central bank support could set the stage for bonds to extend losses.
The COVID-19 pandemic is fueling a surge in currency trading by retail investors, who are discovering that working from home means they can moonlight in the market during the daytime. Trading volume in margin accounts held by individuals more than doubled last month, just as ...
The last quarter of 2019 has been painful for yen bulls, but if history is any guide, good times may be just around the corner. January has typically proved to be a favorable month for Japan's currency, bringing gains against the dollar in seven of ...
Popular tales of "Mrs. Watanabe" — the canny Japanese housewife who dabbles in currency trading in between school runs and shopping — barely begin to tell the story of the nation's retail traders in the foreign exchange market. With almost 800,000 active forex accounts, Japan ...
Global financial turmoil is turning up the heat on the Bank of Japan, raising the question of how much pain it can take before it is forced to act. The BOJ faces two market-driven problems as the U.S.-China trade war escalates — a strengthening yen ...
