Japan's GPIF supporting global market liquidity, Mimura says

BANGKOK, Oct 14 : Japan's top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said on Wednesday the investment activities of the country's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) are supporting the "function and liquidity" of global financial markets.

Japan had responded quite early to the challenges of a rapidly ageing population through measures such as introducing universal pensions and healthcare systems in 1961, Mimura said in a panel on demographics and ageing population held during the IMF meetings in Bangkok.

Such steps created positive side effects, such as a "very healthy" workforce and a dramatic accumulation of pension funds, he said, with the GPIF now the world's biggest institutional investor.

"In this way, the proactive and early introduction of policies not only supported us in responding, or better responding, to population ageing, but also gave us a lot of positive by-products," said Mimura, who is Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs.

GPIF reported a record quarterly investment gain in the April-June quarter, heightening attention on whether the world's largest pension fund should rethink its investment strategy. Any shift in its portfolio strategy would reverberate across global financial markets, analysts say.