Japan pension funds turn to alternative assets: poll

Tokyo

JAPANESE pension funds are turning to alternative assets such as hedge funds, property, infrastructure and private equity as volatility in the market increases, according a JPMorgan Asset Management (Japan) Ltd survey.

Average allocations to alternative assets increased to a record 14 per cent in the 12 months ended March, from 13 per cent a year earlier, based on the responses from 127 domestic pension funds surveyed by the unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. For pensions that have invested in alternatives, such assets are now their second biggest allocation, accounting for 19 per cent of the total, following a 27 per cent holding in Japanese bonds, the survey showed.