The world's biggest pension fund posted its first profit in four quarters as stocks rebounded, providing some respite for the Japanese state money manager after critics lambasted it for taking on too much risk.
The Government Pension Investment Fund returned 1.8 percent, or ¥2.4 trillion in the three months ended Sept. 30, boosting assets to ¥132.1 trillion, it said in Tokyo on Friday. Domestic and foreign equities added ¥3.1 trillion as they recovered from their Brexit rout, outweighing a loss of ¥706.9 billion on bond holdings.
The profit comes after the fund lost more than ¥15 trillion over the previous three quarters, wiping out all investment gains since it overhauled its strategy in 2014 by boosting shares and cutting debt. As Japanese stocks extend their advance and U.S. equities climb to fresh records after Donald Trump's election win, the prospect of further strong performance may help quash complaints at home that GPIF's investing approach is too dangerous.