The Government Pension Investment Fund has substantially changed its line up of domestic bond managers, Reuters reports. As a result of the shift BlackRock Japan appears to have lost it place as the nation’s top firm by pension assets under management.
At the close of its most recent financial year on 31 March, the market value of GPIF’s total portfolio was 113.6 trillion yen of which domestic bonds accounted for 52.47% at 58.5tr yen. Just over 47.2tr yen of this was passively managed and 10.7tr yen actively.
With 17.4tr yen managed inhouse the Fund was at that time its own largest passive manager of domestic bonds. Next came Sumitomo Mitsui Bank with 12.9tr yen and after that BlackRock with 5.7tr yen. The remainder of the field was Resona Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking and Mizuho Trust & Banking each with 3.9tr yen.
On Monday GPIF announced, according to Reuters, that its providers in the domestic bonds passive category would be Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Resona Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust& Banking and Mizuho Trust & Banking, plus the newly appointed State Street Global Advisors.
For BlackRock the loss of 5.7tr yen of business, apparently to State Street, means that it is probably no longer the largest manager of Japanese corporate and government employees’ pension assets. At 31 March BlackRock’s 13.8tr yen of such savings made it number one followed by Sumitomo Mitsui Bank at 10.8tr yen and Mizuho Trust & Banking Co Ltd at 10.3tr yen.
The new line-up is: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mizuho Trust and Banking, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, Tokio Marine Asset Management and DIAM Co plus newcomers MU Investments (owned by Mitsubishi UFJ), Pimco Japan, Manulife Asset Management and Prudential Investment Management Japan (this is the US Prudential).
The moves confirm the position of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank as Japan’s top dog following its creation earlier this year through the amalgamation of Sumitomo Trust & Baking and Chuo Mitsui Trust & Banking.
The Reuters report gives Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and Resona Bank as newcomers to the list of GPIF’s passive bonds managers. This is a mistake.
For all the Fund’s providers and what they managed at 31 March see under “The Giants” tab of this site.
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