Japan’s GPIF faces moment of truth over debt

Huge portfolio: The GPIF office in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world’s biggest pension fund. — Bloomberg

TOKYO: The world’s largest pension pot will soon have to choose between political sensitivities and cold hard returns.

With FTSE Russell set to proceed with a plan to add Chinese debt to its benchmark global bond index from October, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) will now have to decide whether to put its money into China’s sovereign debt, or risk lower returns elsewhere.