The Japanese government has appointed nine individuals to a new board that will administer the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), as part of a move shifting decision-making responsibilities from the GPIF’s president to the board.
Heading the board is Eiji Hirano, a former official of the Bank of Japan and currently vice chairman of
MetLife’s Japanese unit, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on Tuesday.
Other members of the board include Naoko Nemoto, an economist from the Asian Development Bank Institute, and Tomio Arai, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo.
Last year, the Japanese government amended a law to reassign the power to make key decisions, such as basic asset allocation, from the GPIF president to the board. Including the president, the board will consist of 10 members and will be operational by October, reports Reuters.
In 2014, the GPIF, in response to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s directive to promote a less risk-averse investment approach, reduced its reliance on domestic bonds and moved towards assets with higher risks but higher returns.
The fund currently manages ¥144.9 trillion (US$13.03 billion) in assets.
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