Japan's GPIF posts US$12b Q2 investment loss on market downturn

JAPAN’S Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) reported on Friday (Nov 4) an investment loss of 1.722 trillion yen (S$16.4 billion) in July-September, the third consecutive quarter of negative returns.

The loss came as monetary tightening in the United States as well as in Europe hit bond prices, while fears of recession weighed on global stock markets, GPIF said.

The world’s largest pension fund lost 0.88% for the three months, trimming its overall assets to 192.097 trillion yen, it said in a statement.

The loss narrowed from 1.91% in the previous quarter.

The fund is closely watched by global financial markets because of its mammoth size.

During the July-September period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.7%.

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The GPIF’s foreign stock portfolio posted a loss of 0.49%, while its Japanese stock portfolio had a loss of 0.84%.

Its Japanese bond portfolio posted a loss of 0.79%, while its foreign bond portfolio lost 1.54%.

As of end-September, Japanese bonds accounted for 27.26% of its portfolio and foreign bonds accounted for 25.04%. Foreign equities accounted for 23.86% and domestic equities 23.84%. REUTERS